Trash Fee Furor vs. Saving our Sports - A Letter from Selectman Frank Vallarelli

"A little over two years ago, when the idea of instituting a trash fee was
first proposed by the Board of Selectman, I was one of the earliest and most vocal opponents to such a tax. Little did I know that two years later I would be sitting in the position of being the swing vote on this very issue.

In contrast to my position two years ago, voting in favor of the trash fee last Tuesday night was an easy decision. As much as I respect the hard work that Selectman Rotondi did on the override election earlier this month, and his position that “the people have spoken”, I believe many peoples’ opinion changed last Wednesday evening following the School Committee’s decision to eliminate High School Sports from next year’s budget. Based on the phone calls I received and the many e-mails I answered this week, most people never believed that the School Committee would actually institute a threat that they had used so many times before.

Yes, “the people had spoken” on an override vote that would have added a $500-$600 permanent increase in their real estate tax base forever, but all that changed last Wednesdaywhen the School Committee presented their proposed list of cuts based on the override’s failure, and their need to cut $1.5 million from the budget. I’m not criticizing our School Committee; they did what they had to do for the overall benefit of every child enrolled in
our school system. Not just for the students who play sports. We all knew sports was going to
be somewhere on their list of cuts. They were faced with a horrible decision and made the only choice that they could.

For this very reason, it is time to eliminate our High School Sports program as a pawn in the annual chess game played by our elected officials. One speaker at Tuesday night’s meeting echoed what several callers said tome after the school committees vote. One caller, a friend and women who was a stellar athlete at Stoneham High in the late 1970’s, and who has no
children in the school system, said “Frank, let’s start raising money right now. They can’t get rid of sports. If they do, we may as well close the schools altogether.”

The only other Massachusetts town to ever eliminate high school sports was Winthrop High. Through the efforts of many concerned parents and taxpayers, they brought back sports that same year and the program continues to run strong today. I agree with those who say that the trash fee is a temporary fix, a band aid to stop the bleeding, and is not a fee that should continue year after year. I have spoken with Town Counsel and discussed potential warrant articles orballot questions that could accomplish the goal of extracting these costs from the school’s budget.

Whether it be privatizing the sports programs, or setting up a perpetual trust to manage the dollars that will fuel this program, the time to start is now. We can no longer sit back and talk about the issue without coming up with a definitive set of goals. Based on the outcry from all our citizens, not just those of school-aged children, I don’t think there will be a shortage of volunteers to carry out this task.

Frank Vallarelli
Stoneham
Board of Selectman"

This letter was sent to The Stoneham Independent.

Visit Vallarelli's website.