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I had promised myself that I would not reply to anymore of Mr. Corrente's Beacon comments but unfortunately, this latest one forces me to break my promise to myself and I'm replying here as a taxpayer, not a SC member.

Mr. Corrente, if you or anyone else has a scintilla of evidence that bond funds from the 2006 bond were spent on anything other than capital projects, then produce it. Let me help you to understand where that $25 million was spent: Approx $1.8 million for Pilgrim's roof in '09; $8.2 million for Vets HVAC; $300K for ADA-compliant elevator @ Vets; $2 million for Vets roof; $10-$11 million for state mandated fire code work at all schools; $600K for Pilgrim & Vets auditorium renovations and Pilgrim & TG fiedls work.

As to the council person who told you that we could spend bond funds "any way we want", if true, then that council person is stunnignly ignorant of how bond funds can be used, The fact of the matter is that the School Department has to submit to RIDE every project that needs to be done for the $40 million request because they have to approve them for reimbursement - and those are the projects that get done. So there are 'strings' tied to bond funds. And, the Council has to approve any funding request for bond monies So, frankly 'the lady doth protest too much' when we hear that the Council can't have any "say" - if they don't like what the School Department has done with capital projects they can simply refuse to release additional funds.

And for the last time, the School Department budget is audited annually by a third party auditor that is hired by the City, not the School Department. Repeating the same lie over and over again does not make it true but it can make the one look silly. Also, when you repeatedly imply, rather clumsily, that capital improvements can somehow come out of an operating budget, 85% of which is dedicated to salaries & benefits for employees, you simply display no knowledge of schools and their budgets.

Finally, why don't come right out and tell folks exactly what it is that you and some others really want - an appointed School Committee? There's no need to dance around it by using verbose and clumsy prose. And as a taxpayer to whom you want to appeal for a vote, why have you been silent on the fact that over the last 9 years (up until this year), the school's budget allocation from our property taxes has been flat but the city's budget allocation from our property taxes has risen in excess of $30 million dollars? Who is responsible for the share of our property taxes devoted to schools going from 60% to just over 51% and the City's share going from 40% to nearly 50%?

David Testa