Getting answers closer to home

To the editor: I am writing this letter to reassure the community that the Florida Union Free School District takes its spending of taxpayers money very seriously. We do not spend frivolously. In a recent Times Herald-Record newspaper article, a reader could not help but believe that the Florida Union Free School District spent $8,693.26 on food for Superintendent’s conference days in the 2004-05 school year. Allow me to set the record straight. Our district, when FOILED (Freedom of Information Law) by the newspaper, responded (in writing) that we spent between $1,250 - $1,625 for the year. Given the methods used by the district to carefully track all spending that occurs, we provided the newspaper with every invoice that contained any spending related to these conference days. Those same invoices also contained spending that was part of our normal student lunch program. We clearly indicated that although the total of the invoices was $8,693.26, only $1,250 - $1,625 of this was related to the Conference day staff meals. You can draw your own conclusions as to why the paper may have printed the much larger figure, perhaps to stimulate a public reaction. Knowing that a request for a correction would only find itself on page 49, the Board of Education members and I felt it was very important to have this letter printed locally. Let me also point out that the decision was made in September 2006 that we would no longer provide breakfast and lunch for our staff on Superintendent’s conference days. As always, I encourage you to contact me if you have any questions. Sometimes getting your answers closer to home can provide you with information that is more accurate. Sincerely, Douglas W. Burnside Superintendent of Schools Florida Union Free School District