For Old Rochester Regional School Committee member James Muse, being on the school committee is an important job that should be respected and recognized; therefore, an annual stipend should be given as a symbolic gesture of that recognition.
Muse, who is also on the Mattapoisett School Committee, advocated hard in favor of financial compensation as an elected official on September 12, saying he’s no ordinary “volunteer” – “and this is not a charity.”
After listening to Mattapoisett Town Meeting debate over school committee stipends, Muse felt disrespected by some of the negative comments he heard.
“We, as a group, are elected officials,” said Muse. “This is not a small job. This is an enormous responsibility.”
Throughout his diatribe Muse referred to this community’s lack of appreciation for school committee members, and pointed out that several other municipalities provide their school committees with stipends. Muse said even a “nominal” stipend of $100 would be enough to demonstrate an appreciation for the work the committee does – it’s the message that counts, he said.
“We should stand up and say we are an important committee,” Muse stated. “We supervise this administration; we evaluate this administration; we set budgets; we negotiate contracts – this is not small and it should be recognized.”
But not all school committee members agreed with Muse, and ORR Student Advisory Council member Alexander Wurl tested out his diplomacy skills addressing the notion.
“So, if you’re dedicated to helping the school community and helping … the school, wouldn’t you rather the money to go to help the school community and go to the education budget rather than going to yourself?” Wurl asked Muse.
“It’s not to go to myself,” said Muse. “What I’m proposing is the recognition for what’s happening, and what’s happening is we don’t have recognition….” Muse added that he believes a stipend would not affect the ORR budget.
Muse further defended his stance: “The people that are on this committee do this for the general good,” continued Muse. “This is not a charity. This is different … this is a public elected official here.”
School Committee member Michelle Smith said in agreement with Muse, “Our selectmen get paid: they get a stipend; our tree warden gets paid – not to put down his job, but I don’t think [the tree warden] sits and puts the time in as we put in the dedication and the decisions that we make here that the tree warden in Marion does.”
“I’m suggesting that this is a change that can set that forward and we can be treated as an integral, an equal integral, part of this community because we’re at the top of the pyramid and we’re not equal and that statement makes a difference,” said Muse.
Wurl took a different point of view, saying, “I sort of see it as almost hypocritical because you guys [are working for] the benefit of the school in general, but by removing money from the budget, it would be counterintuitive and it wouldn’t help the school as much as it could. And I’m also an elected official, I was elected by my peers … but we’re not asking for monetary value because we do it to help the students.”
Wurl asked Muse if the compensation could be non-monetary in nature and Muse told him no.
“This stipend … won’t pay for the money I spend in gas for the probably thousands of meetings I’ve gone to and continue to go to,” said Muse, “and I go out of town on committees that are part of the district that are out of town that I have to go to…
“I’m not complaining about it,” continued Muse. “I love what I’m doing, and I believe that I’m making a difference. I’m saying that that should be recognized as something that’s important. … And I’ll tell you, it is not hypocritical.”
School committee member Deborah Dyson said she would feel uncomfortable accepting a stipend, adding, “I would feel uncomfortable for the hours of other people that volunteer for the ORR district and spend more time than I do as a school committee member.”
Committee member Stefan Gabriel also opposed the notion of a stipend.
“We are, in fact, volunteers,” said Gabriel. “And this is what we do regardless of whether [a stipend] is there.” Gabriel said insisting on a stipend would send a negative message to the constituents, such as, ’Oh they’re already in, now they’re just trying to give themselves a little something for being there.’”
Muse insisted, “I’m not a volunteer here: I am an elected official – a critical part of this entire structure of this district and I think that it should be recognized.”
School committee member Joe Pires agreed with Muse, saying, “It’s a matter of principle.”
For Pires, he found that people have told him to have his head checked for wanting to run for school committee.
“It’s not the dollar amount: it’s the principle,” said Pires. He could choose to put his work and his family first, instead of sitting on the committee, he added.
School committee member Paul Goulet said he wasn’t opposed to a stipend, but suggested tabling the discussion for now, while Assistant Superintendent Elise Frangos, speaking as a Marion taxpayer, questioned a possible conflict of interest.
“I do wonder, would [Business Administrator Patrick Spencer] be signing off on a check for you, and is that an ethical challenge for him if you, in fact, supervise him and the superintendent?”
Muse doesn’t think so, he said, but Frangos suggested vetting the idea with town counsel.
Committee Chairman Carey Humphrey wasn’t prepared to vote that evening, suggesting research and time for each member to think about it.
“It’s a fairly controversial thing,” said Humphrey. “We probably need to spend more time on it.”
The topic will appear on the agenda of the next meeting.
In other business, the committee approved a 25-cent increase to the school lunch at ORR, which will go from $3 to $3.25 beginning January 1, 2019.
The committee also approved a revision to the program of studies by adding a capella as an honors course.
The next meeting of the Old Rochester Regional School Committee will be October 24 at 6:30 pm in the ORR Junior High School media room.
Old Rochester Regional School Committee
By Jean Perry