Fiscal Responsibility vs. Kicking the Can Down the Road
Board of Education members have one job when it comes to money: protect the financial health of our schools-today, tomorrow, and years from now. That takes leadership. It takes tough choices. And honestly? It’s not always politically convenient.
Sadly, under Board President Donna Carey, that responsibility seems to be getting kicked further and further down the road.
This year, instead of making the hard decisions needed to match the district’s budget to reality, Carey is pulling $275,000 out of the district’s reserves to cover budget shortfalls.
Short-term patch? Sure. But make no mistake: next year’s hole will be even bigger.
🕰 How Did We Get Here?
Rewind to last year.
Donna Carey and Tony Alfano pushed for a 0% tax increase, voting against a budget that would’ve kept the district’s finances on stable footing.
Keeping taxes flat sounds good-especially at election time. But reality doesn’t care about slogans. Costs still rise. Schools still have needs.
Now, with bills that still need to be paid, they’re reaching into the district’s emergency fund-money meant for true crises-not for avoiding tough conversations.
💡 A Responsible Leader Does One of Two Things:
- ✅ Adjusts spending to match real-world revenue, making sure every dollar counts
- ✅ Has an honest conversation about revenue, including whether modest tax adjustments are needed to keep programs and services strong
❌ What You Don’t Do:
Raid your savings account just to get through the year, while pretending everything’s fine.
Because guess what? Kicking the can today only makes it heavier (and harder to kick) tomorrow.
Leadership means making tough choices when they come up-not crossing your fingers and hoping the next board figures it out.
Under real leadership, the Board of Education should be investing in the future-not spending tomorrow’s money to cover today’s mistakes.
🚨 Hardyston deserves leadership that puts fiscal responsibility first-not last. 🚨
📢 Share Your Thoughts
What do you think about this “budgeting” approach? Are we being set up for a bigger crisis down the line?
Share this post and keep the conversation going!