MPS (City Taxes) have subsidized the ECC since it opened. We cannot afford to run it anymore. Families who could afford the fees were lucky. MANY people could not afford the costs. The ECC discriminated against low income residents and paid a portion of the costs for other families which have more money. Time's Up! Close the ECC and use the Franklin for an elementary school. Income Inequality exists in Melrose and the ECC was unfair to many residents whose children were unable to attend because their finances did not allow it.

Ditto.

Agreed, a “no-brainer”.

It actually makes the city money. It is also too small to be used as an elementary school. You are not a bright one. Either this was a joke post or you really need to do even a small amount of research or critical thinking before taking your time to spout online.

The little it nets doesn't come within a country mile of what the cost is to have modulars at the Winthrop.

Tip: If you're going to try to spin something, at least make an effort to make it believable.

Melrose's ECC is not affordable for many families. "One Community Open to All" is open to those who can afford it. AND it IS subsidized by MPS. If the Business Manager would show her face and share detailed budgets, then the true cost of the EEC would be known. The same families who cannot afford the ECC also cannot afford more taxes.......and will not vote for an override.

You are dead wrong. The Franklin functioned as an elementary for many years and then as swing space for middle-schoolers when the new building was being built. It is entirely up to code and could easily be used as a school.

It does not "make" the district money ever since Joe Casey and Rob Dolan (with the collusion of the idiotic school committee) started making it a boutique preschool, complete with "SmartTable" and all sorts of other costly and ridiculously unnecessary upgrades. It was all part of the continuing ploy to buy votes from continuous supply (thanks to the lies about the school system by the realtors falsely portraying it as a great district) the young, gullible parents. Back when the first of the pricey Franklin renovations took place, there were about 17 Title 1 preschool-age students entitled to special education services, at that time housed in a couple of classrooms at Lincoln and Roosevelt. There are still only about that many students in the city needing those services, if calculations are correct (hard to know exactly since this is the least transparent school administration ever, with a business manager who is not only incompetent but totally in collusion with a chronically law-breaking boss and school committee). Those few children could receive services in a couple of classrooms anywhere in the city, and the ECC could return to be a revenue-creator after the boatload of "inclusion specialists" are removed, also making it possible to lower the fees to make the school a more truly INCLUSIVE place for the entire community, not just those families whose parents have double six-figure salaries. The young parents with the fat portfolios will kick and scream about how the ECC is nirvana and must be saved, but getting past their ignorant noise is the possibility of shining a light on real and sensible solutions for the city that do not involve further tax and fee burden on all families, and certainly debunk the foolishness of another override debacle that will and already is further dividing the community.

Cost of the modulars is already budgeted. Can't send them back now. Also, all the students housed in the modulars would not be able to be served by the ECC alone. It would require reopening the Beebe for that.

Lots of words that amount to pure, rank speculation regarding the amount of Title I kids in town. Also, what school would you have them at? With what funds would you staff this entirely new (now money losing since parents don't pay fees anymore) school without any form of override?

You mask your political hackery with lots of words signifying nothing. You are bought and sold for the repugs.

What school? Take your pick - Franklin, Beebe, or Ripley. Or would you rather have them stuffed them into the modulars at the Winthrop?

Frankly, I am sick and tired of you self-entitled override spinmasters. Most people finally see your ilk for what you are, and are fed up with you and your lies. You got sold a bill of goods by some sleazeball realtor, and now you want the rest of us to pay for your mistake. Forget it. Go cry on Jen McBull$hit's shoulder.

"You are bought and sold for the repugs."

You couldn't be more wrong.

That ECC is costing the city hugely, instead of being a moneymaker as it was intended. That could end when the school year ends, and a reconfiguration could occur to address the space problems. Would it be chaotic? Sure. Could it be deferred until next year? Yes. There are many creative solutions available to the district. The ignorant and the corrupt administrators don't want to portray anything other than a dire crisis, with a dramatic show of hand-wringing that they can get the gullible young parents to echo.

By the way, the Beebe only generates $200,000 in income, and there are many costs the city has to cover for the sake of the SEEM school (all of which are kept hidden/obscured). The Beebe has never gone offline as a school and could/should also be tapped (and should have been the first choice before jumping on that foolish modular project). The alleged reason is that it would require millions in upgrades, including Smart(Dumb)Boards, all just a red herring because the plan to bilk the taxpayers for the modulars was already in the works. Saying that SEEM is "us" and as a result we somehow owe them is bogus. There are many alternatives for SEEM, that operates with an independent administration and board. Just another red herring.

You need to sell your house and get out of Melrose. The city is all tapped out.

Yeah, it's all a giant conspiracy :face_with_rolling_eyes:. You would rather your property taxes stay artificially low and eventually tank the ever increasing value of your house, then to start paying your fair share for the windfall you have been dealt.

Look at other communities property taxes, man! We pay so freaking little. Look at Acton, look at Reading! They have amazing schools and property values that rival Melrose even though they are much less centrally located. Their property taxes are high but so is their school quality. Doing "more with less" is not possible. There isn't the rampant waste and abuse in Melrose that your type so often sites but can never enumerate. There just aren't enough property taxes to support the strain on the school system that the influx of money (and the young families that have said money) have brought these last 3-5 years.

Stop being an old cheap cuss, and pay your share, A$$hole.... Or, better yet, sell your house, at a tidy profit, to a young family with money that would like to build Melrose into a better community. You could move to someplace like Billerica or Dracut, where the property taxes remain low and they don't care about school and the property values stay relatively stagnant.

Stop holding everyone back because you can't pony up an extra $500 per year. It is literally chump change. Think of all the ways you would waste that money on worthless junk throughout the year, and then think about how you could better children's education and the community you live in. I know which you'll choose, because you suck, but you should think about choosing the community.

Dunce,

If you're not an anti-tax troll, you're doing a great job of impersonating one, because that's one heckuva promo for an override. I can see the signage now:

"Stop being an old cheap cuss, and pay your share, A$$hole. "

"Sell your house . . . because you suck."

Yep, getting that warm, welcoming, open-to-all community vibe from that promo.

Btw, another thing that is going to slow down overrides in MA starting this year is Ryancare aka the idiotic Ayn Rand Memorial tax bill, which means that federal subsidization of local taxes through deductions is dramatically reduced/eliminated while cash floods the accounts of the super-investor class to help inflate more asset bubble-and-bust cycles (speaking of which, we're due for a serious real estate correction here - just a matter of time).

I am not a Repug, not a Trumpkin, not an opponent of paying for common goods*. Melrose has a serious problem with its government culture and a particular problem with its miasma of school administration (both of longstanding), and it's not going to be highest on the list of many Melrosians for additional local taxes until those problems are addressed beforehand (if you *really* want to "think about choosing the community" that indeed should be the top priority because those problems are cancers on good governance that should not be fed any more), and other priorities defined and structured properly. "But it's for the children, you A$$hole!" isn't going to cut it. If anything, that talk may widen the margin against an override or debt exclusion. If we have a vote on this, and it fails, you can look at yourself in the mirror when you whine "Why?".

* Just among my proximate neighbors, I can count at least several progressive-voting households (who moved here from Cambridge, Somerville, Dorchester, Chicago, et cet.) who share a similar view to what I am outlining here. This is not a Red/Blue issue in Melrose. It's more of a "I've seen how Melrose City Hall works and it ain't pretty" perspective.

You Melrose Message types are all the same. What could this government possibly do that could make it so that you would find an override for the good of the city? What type of change do you need to see? What specifically is so corrupt about this city hall? I know the 3 well trodden MM answers. They are all trumped up or just straight up nothing/lies. Just admit that you are selfish and want to blame other people for it rather than take ownership of your cheapness/selfishness.

Also, the person I called an A$$hole referred to an actual person as Jen McBull$hit. Maybe that jerk is the one who isn't "welcoming". Look in the mirror MM, you are all whiny babies that can't take your own medicine. Good thing there are probably only 20 of you that post on here regularly. The rest of the visitors come to read and laugh at you. Nice echo chamber you got here.

Perhaps the poster called her "Jen McBull$hit" because that's essentially what we heard while she was promoting the last override attempt. Does Jen McLiar satisfy your delicate sensibilities? It's equally accurate.

There are a lot of no voters who would have voted yes if the administration and the supporters had made an honest case. Instead, they cried wolf and conducted the usual dog and pony show - again - and again miraculously "found" a stash "somewhere". Their credibility is shot. It's more a case of not believing the administration than it is a case of not wanting to spend more money, although that's certainly a part of it.

Notice all the money that suddenly appeared. Money from revolving accounts. Money from DPW. Money from Medicaid. There was none. Suddenly there was plenty. Millions of free cash magically shows up every year.

Read the Melrose Community Facebook page regarding K placement letters received yesterday. Parents are up in arms. The ECC needs to be closed and the Franklin used as another elementary school. Taymore is old and incompetent. Her contract should never have been renewed and she does NOT earn her salary. The SC has been negligent and mismanaged money. Illegitimate Gail called for an Override last night. No, Gail! You were not elected Mayor and do not have the Moral Authority to push this issue. Any Override question should be part of the Mayoral election in 2019 not sooner.

What money, man? We are in dire straits. They wouldn't be dire if the override passed. Now it is worse. It wasn't "crying wolf". It was desperately needed, and now the chickens are coming home to roost. The proof is in front of your face. It will be worse if this doesn't pass.

I can't wait until it hits your wallets when home values start to go down after these kindergarten age families leave town. They won't stand for it. They will find a community that wants to build itself up rather than complain. You are all being penny wise and pound foolish when it comes to your wealth and this override. I get not wanting to pay higher taxes, but property values dropping or stagnating while other communities rise will kill your bottom line much more than a few hundred extra in taxes per year.

Would we still be split from the union like we have been for many years? DR would then be principal?

It isn't market value that determines revenue. It's assessed value. The market value in Melrose is just another bubble, and it's not real value. It's a phony number, unless you're a realtor peddling an over priced house to some unsuspecting buyer. I hope all these kindergarten age families do leave town, and aren't replaced by another flood of people who don't realize they're being sold a bill of goods. Then values will most likely decline - right back to where they should be now.

You're still missing the point. Voters are now more and more realizing that they've been consistently lied to by the administration and it's supporters for more than 10 years, and are sick of it. Therefore, they are less and less inclined to believe anything the administration says, especially more dire warnings. They weren't true in the past, and they're not true now. It's all another lie.

The realtors,mayor and more who participated in all the fake ways to Make Melrose Great Again! Soon it will come back and smack you in the face.My house is up for sale now. The principals are not up for the job.

Unless your house is a sh*thole it will be gone by the weekend. If it is a sh*thole it will be gone next weekend. I love the losers that hate the Melrose elected officials so badly that they would actually be happy if the real estate market crashed...even if it cost them money. Melrose real estate values will only go up for several reasons...most having nothing to do with the school system. Easy commute, great downtown, subway and commuter rail, great outdoor spaces and activities, and a portfolio of great houses that are all $400,000 less than Winchester, Lexington and Newton. There have been and will continue to be families who leave for wealthier communities with better schools. That's been the case for 40 years, but it happens a lot less than you think...and it won't happen as much as the angry people on this website hope it will down the road. Contrary to the belief on this website a very large percentage of school age parents are happy with their kids education in Melrose.

The city is in debt. The schools are at it's lowest and not getting better. Parking in Melrose is so bad we have no where to go. Then our elected mayor leaves the city to make 40 thousand more dollars. We the residents voted for Mayor Dolan till the end of his term.

So you want your house to lose value rather than pay slightly more in taxes? That is literally cutting off your nose to spite your face. Senseless.

What lies have been told by the administration? Very generic over here. I doubt you could come up with something that people would agree is a lie. YOU might "feel" like its a lie, but to me the previous administration seemed forthright for the most part in my 8 years in town.

The dire warnings are true. You gotta look at this budget. It is no bueno. The dire warnings were true last time and when the override didn't pass the city had to put on band aids. Those band aids temporarily staunched the bleeding so you determined that the dire warnings were "lies". They weren't! The band aids have now stopped being able to staunch the bleeding and more band aids won't do the trick. We need to begin to address the wound by passing an override and getting more tax revenue into the schools.

I know none of this will convince you, but your property taxes are LOW compared to other communities. Just look on Redfin or Zillow at houses in other towns and their expected property taxes. Much, much higher than ours. It's time to catch up.

MM has made me put my house up for sale.:bouquet:

MM, you're not getting it. Melrose real estate values are a bubble, and like all bubbles, eventually it pops. Remember 2008? How many people bought the bubble leading up to that, and then found themselves upside down, or worse, being foreclosed? You say you've been here 8 years - meaning you bought in 2010, at or near the bottom. You avoided it in 2008, so you're fine. I am also fine - I bought in 1986. Those buying now are in much greater jeopardy from a bubble burst than you and I are. Plus, a bursting bubble takes everything else with it, ie: retirement accounts. Retirees on fixed incomes got creamed in 2008 when their 401K's tanked. I don't want to see that happen to them again. The thought of the little old lady next door eating cat food - again - bothers me.

I'd rather see a market correction now and have my value more nearly approach true value, rather than go through another 2008, when my equity decreased by 35%. It's not senseless. It's common sense. It's believing the bubble that's senseless.

Jealousy is not a pretty color, people. #Be Best

That's what they said about the Beebe school which they have been leasing for a relative pittance to the SEEM Collaborative (namely because Cindy Taymore is on the SEEM Board). Dolan said it would cost 4 Million dollars or some other outlandish number to get the Beebe school ready for Melrose elementary use. He literally pulled this number out of his @$$ to justify the construction of the temporary modular units that now scar the school grounds all over town: a completely asinine proclamation, as the Beebe was actively in use as an elementary school by the SEEM Collaborative. When asked for a breakdown for the Beebe estimate, nothing ever surfaced, again because he pulled the number out of his @$$. City administrators continue to make costly decisions for political reasons. But again, not enough residents are questioning the logic or support for these illogical decisions.

Now the Doughboy sits in his office over in Lynnfield laughing his ass of, cashing in on the phony rep he developed with this kind of political crap. And what's the response from this administration? To champion another override attempt. It's true you get the government you deserve, and this is exactly what Melrose deserves for letting this gang of charlatans run the show.