Merger with Ayer schools could cost Shirley $600,000

I remember when the BIG DIG was a win win with no significant tax increase, The National health care was going to be free until the CBO said it will cost a TRILLION. And how is a six hundred thousand dollar increase to a small town like Shirley going to be paid in a few years (difficult years already) without significant tax increases? NOT ONE MORE NICKEL MAC!

if george frost wasnt hired that would be 250,000 dollars right there,,,he is woefully over paid...wanna know why your taxes are so high..this guy gets paid like a wall street banker..this only a town with barely 5,000 people may of who are elderly and children so that leaves about one third to carry this clowns weight,,,im not happy ..none of these clowns know what real work is,,,there golden parachute boys

I believe that the town of Shirley already pays more than $600,000 in tuition to Ayer without any representation. We need to regionalize. Then we will have only one central office between the two small towns and not two of everything.
This makes sense. I hope that the two towns, who have a long history of being together finally regionalize.

hgh wrote:

if george frost wasnt hired that would be 250,000 dollars right there,,,he is woefully over paid...wanna know why your taxes are so high..this guy gets paid like a wall street banker..this only a town with barely 5,000 people may of who are elderly and children so that leaves about one third to carry this clowns weight,,,im not happy ..none of these clowns know what real work is,,,there golden parachute boys

In this week's paper I noticed Ayer is looking for a Veterans'Agent that is paying about $8,000. Education is important but to pay $250,000 for Frost then to pay $8,000 to take care of our veterans is sending quite a message.

According to the 2008 town report, the town of Ayer paid Frost $129,356.26 ... where is it coming from that AYER is putting out-of-pocket $250,000 for Frost?

Thanks fyi and Shirley Mom. The sensationalism of whatnow and the uninformed position of hgh don't help the debate on whether this is good or bad for either town.

Regional school agreements are contracts and the financial assessment models are part of the contract. The state dept of education oversees these contracts. There is a set limit of state aid to the region and the rest of the regional school's budget is made up by assessments to the towns within the constraints of the regional contract which are debated and approved/not approved at town meeting. Comparing this to the Big Dig or the current health insurance debate is ridiculous and unfounded. There is no parallel or comparison.

Shirley's problem is that it has underfunded education. As Shirley Mom said,$1 million plus of Shirley taxpayer dollars go to other towns and school districts to educate Shirley kids because their families believe they can get a better education elsewhere. This does NOT include high school tuition paid to Lunenburg and Ayer, so the real amount is higher. If Shirley stays on its current path, that amount will only grow. Regionalizing will bring some of those kids back immediately and therefore reduce that outflow, potentially by enough to fund a large amount of the Shirley deficit in a region with Ayer without a tax increase. And over time, as families see there is a great education product in their community, even more will stay and reduce that cost even further, meaning more Shirley tax dollars going to actual services provided IN THE TOWN. Why do you want to pay $1 million+ in taxes to other towns? Don't you want your tax dollars to go to use supporting Shirley families, not underwrite the school budgets of Ayer, Parker, Nashoba Tech, and Lunenburg?

Not to mention, as Shirley Mom said, by pooling resources and eliminating duplication of positions, the education program that can be offered will be superior for roughly the same cost both towns pay separately today.

As for George Frost, fyi is right.$129,356.26. Look it up. First, Frost works for Ayer, not Shirley, so none of the "barely 5,000 people many of who are elderly and children so that leaves about one third" are carrying the weight of this "clown" as you call him. Ayer's 7700 people do that. Seeing you don't even know what town he works for, I imagine you also have no clue what he does, whether or not he does it well, what others of his profession get paid, and so is he under or over paid based on that.

Like Mac Reid, as a retiree, Frost also collects a pension that is funded through his contribution to the teachers retirement system during his career, which is also underwritten by state tax dollars and investment earnings made off the money the teachers contribute during the active part of their careers. That pension brings his total annual compensation over $200k. However, Ayer pays only $129k of it. The teachers retirement system pays the rest.

And whether Mac or George worked for Ayer and Shirley or not, that pension amount doesn't change - they are owed that through their pension with MA Teachers Retirement regardless of whether they stay retired and play golf all day or whether they work for Ayer and Shirley as interim supts. That pension does not cost Ayer or Shirley a nickel, and is therefore irrelevant to this topic and discussion. So, his salary is $129k, it is paid for by Ayer's taxpayers, and there is no tax relief for anyone if Mac and George were sent packing and full time supts. were hired tomorrow. In fact, because Mac and George get their pensions and it supplements their income, they are working for less money than a regular full time supt. would. This actually has been SAVING tax dollars the past few years while each has worked for their respective towns.