School Board President Jessica DeDomenico said it is Superintendent Dr. Cheryl Champ’s responsibility to inform the public about the district’s proposed $83.7 million budget and capital reserve fund ballot initiative at three information sessions—while school members may attend if they want.

Her statement was in response to an email from the Pelham Examiner on why school board members would not be answering questions at the district’s budget information sessions being held in advance of the May 17 school elections.

“The board of education has held numerous public discussions about the budget over the past two months,” wrote DeDomenico on Tuesday. “Now that the board has adopted the budget proposal, it is Dr. Champ’s responsibility to share details about the proposal with the community, as she is ultimately responsible for implementing the budget approved by voters. The sessions are for the purposes of informing and clarifying details of the adopted budget for voters and not to advocate for or debate the merits of what is included. Board of Education members are of course welcome to attend these sessions.”

“As always, residents are more than welcome to email the board of education at [email protected] or at their individual email addresses,” she said. “Additionally, there are four ‘Let’s Talk’ listening/discussion sessions planned for the spring that will be attended by Dr. Champ and me, the first of which was held at Prospect Hill yesterday morning. These dates were shared with families last week.”

However, DeDomenico didn’t exactly answer the Examiner’s questions. While it’s true board members had “public discussions,” they did not answer questions of residents during any of those public meetings, as it is the board’s unwritten policy to not publicly respond to questions or comments made during the public comment period of board meetings. In addition, the Examiner asked if there would be any evening meetings where trustees would answer questions. The four “Let’s Talk” sessions were and are scheduled for either 8:30 a.m. or 3:30 p.m. at the elementary schools.

Here is the original email the Examiner sent with its questions:

Dear Ms. DeDomenico and Mr. Wolff,

The school board voted to send the budget and the capital reserve fund proposition to the voters, recommending the budget and proposition it adopted be approved by the voters. At least according to the district’s announcement, trustees will not attend the “2022-23 School Budget Discussions” with Dr. Champ. Why is this so?

Two of the three discussions are the only public sessions so far scheduled in the evening where voters would be able to ask board members questions and receive answers on the budget and the capital fund that the trustees approved. As you know, questions aren’t answered during board meetings. Will there be at any point an evening event at which voters can ask board members questions on the budget and the capital fund?

Best regards,
Oliver Tam
Executive Editor