I was annoyed at the "similar" e-notify emails sent to my account. Actually there were three within a few minutes. I emailed Ms Cruz and the individual who sent the emails. Here is Ms Cruz's response (1/07/2011) to me after I questioned the costs involved with this activity.
My assistant is away and Laura offered to help publish these documents. As she had never done it before, there were a few glitches. I am sorry that it disturbed you. Ellie Cruz
My response (01/21/2010) to Ms Cruz and copied to members of the HBOE, BOS and the town manager follows:
I took my time to respond because I needed to verify Ms. Laura's title. She holds the title of "data assistant". At a minimum, she should be able to email, understand distribution lists and attach a link. The public is getting tired of a "few glitches" ... each costs money even if it is a dime. Three emails from the e-notify system, within minutes of each other, was a little too many for me. I AM UPSET to see our valuable, scarce resources used in this way.
There was a long list of office personnel last year. We will "need to wait and see" what the planned budget carries for next year. This is still an unknown since no "proposed" budget ( that can be changed, tweaked, and adjusted) is posted anywhere on the school web-site. The public can only view power point presentations and "brochures". Those formats entertain and rarely "inform" because minimal information is provided while the viewer is distracted with fonts, colors, borders, etc. Since the tax payers are supporting the personnel with titles of assistants and secretaries, we also have the privilege to question their role in educating our children.
As I suggested in the past, this district should use the business world example of "cross-training". Everyone (providing clerical support) should be able to pick up the slack when one individual is absent for a day or more.
My last comments: The public still wants the HBOE meetings videotaped. Perhaps if the meeting place was changed to an area that accommodates this activity - town hall or the library, this will happen. In addition, another plus would be the posting of the current proposed budget with real dollar amounts for both expenditures and revenues. Finally, any information on "WHY" so many parents are driving their children to/from school would be appreciated. This last issue has never been addressed. I believe the school is reviewing changes/additions to a driveway. I would encourage the board to investigate the reasons for the shift from buses to cars BEFORE spending money. In my opinion, it could be one of two reasons: bullying on the buses (ask for parent volunteers to ride the bus) or the bus routes may be too long since the schools are no longer divided by sections of town. Once this is investigated maybe we can eliminate the extra traffic without going through an expense of a driveway makeover.
I plan to post this comment on the community forum as well. Thank you for trying to keep the community in the loop.
