I attended Tim Broadrick’s first presentation to the board and the public as superintendent. The contrast to past board blather is striking. For the first time this century, and maybe in its history, Claremont has been offered transparency and visibility into how the school system and board actually function.  And he has offered to do this in real time. A few school board oligarchs were visibly distraught.  How dare the wizard reveal what lies behind the curtain!  Trust the experts and vote as you are told!

Luke Diamond, our new treasurer, introduced himself to the public and the board while explaining the proper role of treasurer as that of a check/balance against entrenched interests and self dealing, either within the board or the administration.  Preventing collusion, confusion, and incompetence from rising to the level of catastrophic shutdown, while serving as a watchdog for the public purse.  One can see the need for such a role in retrospect.  I wonder why the RSA’s documenting the role of treasurer were never mentioned for the entire duration of the crisis.  Did no one know?  Or were we not supposed to find out?

Rather than kneeling at the altar of “democracy” and “experts”, Supt. Broadrick offered knowledge and frank discussion of finance, budgeting, hiring, pay, benefits….  Sunshine is an excellent disinfectant.  Claremont was given a generous dose of intense UV.  My hope is that this continues through the duration of his term.  I love the idea of salaries, benefits, and monthly comparisons of budgets to actuals. I really like the idea of website access to the same, so that we can all sing from the same sheet of music. Perhaps he can alter the culture of blind acceptance that allowed a 5 million dollar hole to appear “out of nowhere”, like an oak tree before a drunk driver.

The real challenge for the school system is to develop procedures that reveal problems so they can be resolved, not concealed or lost so they fester.  Procedures that outlast the term of their implementation, much like the Constitution protects liberty long after the founders have gone.  Claremont needs practice to develop good fiscal hygiene habits with spending controls, budgeting, asset tracking, and planning.  My hope is that 2 years of muscle memory with transparent budgets and decision making will root out the worst of the bad habits from decades past. I also hope that once voters and parents gain the experience of good governance and transparency, they will not go back to the bad old days of trust us and give us more money for less students and worse results.

Speaking of the past…

Those bad habits are still yielding lousy consequences. as the board had approved a contract that amounts to sugar plum fairy benefits for several years after termination. Seeing such incompetence reminds us that the spendthrift ways that led to the $5M hole remain at large, and uncorrected.  Money is just an indicator, the crisis is in the institution.

The meeting wound down with fond memories of playground animals and a non-public session to punish Matt Angell for his service through the crisis.

Lastly, A Stretch Goal for the current school board:

I suggest that this board be the signer of all the years of missing audits and books.  And that they get it done before the next school board election in March.  There are many years filled with sketchy transactions and undocumented reimbursements.  Someone has to sign off on the ugliness of the past before we can move on.  There are so many years of unfiled public records.  I think the current chair is the ideal candidate to affix her seal to the public records for all to see.

Imagine the consequences if Claremont citizens were as dilatory in payment as the school board is in accounting for those payments. Now that sounds like local control.