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Indya
KINCANNON |
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Update from Indya - July 2008 As
always, I appreciate your comments and feedback.
Balancing
Our Budget On the
surface this seems like a $12.6m increase, or up 4%. The reality is
different. Due to reductions
in the Great Schools Partnership budget, reductions to funding for
telecommunications, and the fact that much of the increase is from our
savings account (fund balance) the net appropriation is actually $364m, or
less than a 2% increase. [Joe
Sullivan wrote a great analysis in a recent Metro Pulse column]. Now a 2%
increase is certainly better than no increase, or a reduction.
But is it enough to fund the existing level of services, pay for
mandatory salary steps, re-design two high schools, open a new high school
and cope with rising costs of health insurance, gas and food?
Unfortunately, no – something’s got to give.
We have
had numerous discussions about how to trim our budget.
Although we hope to keep the cuts as far away from the classroom as
possible, approximately 85% of our budget is for personnel, so you can
only do so much before affecting positions. Some of the likely outcomes
include: ·
No new positions except those
required by law ·
Postponing phase two of our
literacy initiative ·
No raises for employees,
although we may fund a one-time bonus from fund balance ·
Deferred maintenance ·
Postponing textbook purchases ·
Cuts to promising new
programs that had been funded by the Great Schools Partnership (including
Kindergarten Intervention Aides, Birth to K Educators, Teacher Advancement
Program (TAP), Teacher Induction and others.) ·
Numerous cuts in equipment,
materials and supplies
The
administration is grappling with the numbers and we expect a final
recommendation and vote at a special called meeting on July 21st.
Staggered
Starts When we
discussed this proposal in June it was clear that it would need more time
to be properly implemented and we’d need to give parents, schools and
bus drivers more advance notice to make necessary accommodations.
If our budget situation is similar next year, I think we’ll see
this proposal again.
Freshman
Experience: Maroon School of
Communications: Black School of
Health Sciences: White Skilled
Professions (Construction Trades & Cosmetology): Gray The
school has partnered with area businesses to subsidize the cost of the
shirts for needy students. Those
same businesses will also help If you
have questions about the new professional attire, please contact the
school directly. You can read
more about the re-design,
including the research that supports it, at the I applaud
the
I
attended the initial meeting in June.
A large crowd of people described their concerns, and also seemed
ready, willing and able to work together to improve Central for all
students. The concerns include
low expectations, lack of discipline and poor communication.
Many families said that their child was falling through the cracks
and not getting the attention he or she needed to succeed.
Some parents who attended Central themselves didn’t feel
comfortable sending their children there.
You can read more about the concerns here. I know there are many excellent teachers and strong students at Central, but clearly there are some issues that need to be addressed. I invited our new Superintendent, Dr. McIntyre, to the meeting and he plans to attend. Unfortunately due to previous family vacation plans, I won’t be there, but will certainly get a report of how it went. Thanks to the people who are organizing this effort – I think it will lead to positive changes.
No
Child Left Behind Results to be Announced Friday Needless
to say, this can wreak havoc on teacher and student morale, and lead to
panic among parents. I
encourage everyone to pay attention to the results, to look especially
closely at the value-added results, and then feel free to ask questions.
Shift
Happens
Best
wishes for a peaceful rest of the summer, Indya |
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