I don’t know if any of you watched the Brunswick School Board budget meeting on April 29 or not, so I will fill you in. When Paul Perzanoski gave a rundown of the budget cuts totaling $750,000 to the School Board, the first thing out of School Board Member Chris McCarthy’s mouth was that he gave a motion to the rest of the board that he wanted a vote to keep their budget as first presented with no cuts what so ever. The motion failed. The reason he gave was that he wanted it to go to referendum because he knew that it would definitely pass with flying colors like it always does regardless of their spending because people just don’t get out to vote unless they want the budget to pass.

It appears again this year that many on the School Board feel like they have carte blanche! Not only was Chris McCarthy showing arrogance, but School Board Member Brenda Clough was as well towards the town manager, Town Council and the taxpayers of Brunswick. When the base closed, our student attendance went down by almost 1,200 students, but the school budgets continue to go up and that is not right. I’d say too many school employee benefit increases again.

The municipal side of the town budget is the one that always has to compromise because the School Board won’t and, as a result, there may be service cuts this year that many won’t like. People need to stand up on their feet and either call or e-mail their representative to voice their concerns on the school budget, and request they cut their budget as they were asked to do. I for one can’t afford a 5-6 percent mil rate increase this year, can you? Maybe the town should institute a Municipal and School Department pay freeze or a pay cut for one year in the amount of 2 percent across the board. Think of what it would save the town residents!

Unless the residents speak up at the budget hearing and on voting day to say stop the gouging, there will be many residents that won’t be able to afford to continue to live here as they aren’t lucky enough to get the pay raises that the school and municipal employees are fortunate to receive. Just remember that 83 percent of the Brunswick residents do not have any children in school so it is the remaining 17 percent that are dictating what happens.

Jean Powers Brunswick