Sam Torolopoulos for Place 6, CISD Board of Trustees
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Part one of a two part series.
Q: brEach candidate in this year's campaign has promised fiscal restraint tobrtaxpayers. What specific actions orbrproposals do you recommend to balance the budget and maintain fiscalbrresponsibility?
A: Sam Torolopoulos – The first thing that comes to mind isbrthat we plan for the future using a very basic and effective form of budgetbrforecasting called Baseline Budgeting. Baseline budgeting uses current spending levels as thebr"baseline" for establishing future funding requirements and assumesbrfuture budgets will equal the current budget times the inflation rate times thebrpopulation growth rate. The problem thebrDistrict faces is that the student population in Southlake has declined by 2%brover the past five years. First, what webrwould need to do is get all departments to start their budgets for the upcomingbryear at zero and move forward from there making sure all the basic classroombrand teacher needs are met. Second,brunnecessary spending needs to be reined in. brThe current bboardbrhas over budgeted for the last two years with spending that did not take placebrand that was in excess of the revenue that would have been raised in the taxbrincrease proposal put forth last Fall, had it passed.
Q: Protect the Tradition is at the verybrheart of this school district. What doesbrthe phrase mean to you and exactly how do you intend to fulfill that commitmentbrif elected?
A: Sam Torolopoulos – What is it that drawsbrfamilies to Southlake? The reputation of being able to provide a qualitybreducation to the students. Well thebrtruth behind that ability to provide an education is being able to pay for it! I lived here several years ago when the CISDbrliterally ran out of money. I remember when Art, Spanish and other electivesbrwere cut and the upheaval when the citizens were told we had only a few weeksbrto make some radical changes or we would be insolvent. I never want to see that happen again, I wantbrto protect all the children and all the classes, both core and encore for thebrcurrent students and generations to come.
I planbron fulfilling that commitment of protection by being a responsiblebrtrustee/steward of the money. It is common sense as well as basic math, thatbryou do not spend more than you take in. brWe are currently on that same road of spending more than we are takingbrin so if elected I plan on reversing that trend and making sure what dollars webrare spending are directed first and foremost to the teachers and the studentsbrin the classrooms.
Meet his opponent, Matt Kormann. Part 1 of 2.
Meet Place 7 Candidates Chris Archer and Jim Palazzo.