[speedgibson] Speed Gibson: Penny wise, Budget Foolish

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Posted by Speed Gibson:
Penny wise, Budget Foolish
http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1211941839.shtml


   It was another work session for the Robbinsdale School District Board,
   another painful couple of hours contemplating still more budget cuts.
   Amidst various items, some well over $100,000, was $5,000 for catered
   food for meetings like this.
   Such expenditures are used only when meeting early, around the dinner
   hour or through lunch etc. There is no food at the 7 pm Board
   meetings, but there is for 5:30 pm work session. The justification is
   obvious, that Board members are often coming straight from their day
   jobs or duties.
   I think I can speak for the disgruntled and the skeptical out there
   when I say that this is money well spent, and not enough to matter
   against a $200 million annual budget. This Board puts in a lot of
   extra hours like tonight, and aren't getting rich doing it, either.
   They at least deserve a sandwich and a cookie! (It was just cookies
   tonight. And I had one. Invoice me.)
   But it's also smart business. Why do we serve breakfast at the
   schools? Because the children who have breakfast do better in class.
   In fact, some districts do "double secret" breakfasts when taking
   national tests.
   How about here? If the board functions better, improving its fiscal
   performance by just 1/100 of one percent, that's a 4:1 payback. I
   think that's a good investment. Leave it in the budget.