Kirk Twigg released an updated carryover fund proposal today that has garnered harsh criticism from some constituents.
The updated carryover proposal created by Twigg included funds previously discussed, as well as staff bonuses. However, it appears that raises for bus drivers and custodial staff were removed.
Here is the proposal that Twigg released:
In comparison, here is the proposal that was agreed upon in a previous board meeting:
The $4,011,154 for staff bonuses remains the same, but the additional $2 million for bus driver and custodial pay raises are not included in Twigg's updated proposal. Instead, $327,662 were designated as 'remaining to be appropriated', meaning the extra funds will be at the board's discretion.
It appears that the $2 million dollars that were supposed to go to bus driver and custodial raises, were instead allocated to Instructional needs. Evidence of this can be found when comparing Twiggs proposal with the original proposal; $173,162 for Instructional needs, was bumped up to $2 million in Twiggs proposal.
It is unknown if Twigg intended to remove the bus driver and custodial pay raises, as he has not said so publicly, however we can make an inference based on the math.
What Twigg likely did, was group bus drivers and custodians in with the rest of the staff, and then allocated their original funds, to Instructional items. This is just conjecture however, as much more information is needed to make this conclusion.
Board member Nicole Cole, went live today with Rich Lieberman to discuss these findings, as well as the cancellation of the meeting. She did not conclude that the bus driver and custodial raises were allocated to Instructional needs, instead suggesting that Twigg simply removed the raises without cause.
As of today, no information has been revealed about Twigg's intention, and further investigation is required to fully understand his proposal in contrast to the ones previously agreed upon.