This is an Op-ed piece by Salida Citizen co-founder Bill Donavan, followed by a press release from John Rouse, Salida School District Superintendent.
I just spoke with Robin Nejame, Salida school board member, about the press release below. Moreover, I have been following discussions in the community closely, partaking in district accountability meetings and speaking with teachers and staff.
Sometimes it’s difficult to discern the impact of a press release such as the one below unless you have been close to inner workings. It is my goal to offer some context based on my recent experience.
I have watched the board wrestle with several big decisions in recent years, but none have forced them to research options, listen to the community, meet with teachers and staff and then make hard choices like the statewide budget-related decisions they are facing today. Logically, there has been some fear and among teachers and staff regarding extensive job loss and cuts. As you will read below, many of those fears have been misplaced. However, a lesser board would likely have made wholesale cuts in staff and services with less input from the community. The pressure they have been under is considerable. Additionally, it’s important to consider that state mandates, contracts and a goal to fulfill the mission created by the community make planning decisions very complex.
As I’ve written recently, our district is in a remarkably sound position economically because of good local decision made on many levels, and we should be very proud of the management of our school district these days.
Additionally, our community has gotten behind our teachers, and the salary increases authorized by voters last year show even more support for teachers —and students. In these difficult times, our minimal cuts and community support are nothing short of astounding.
The care for staff and personel that I’ve seen from this team is unmatched. The results below are the result of hundreds of hours of homework, meetings and listening. They are an all volunteer board, and the work goes on.
Please stay tuned to the calendar for more school related events and opportunities to partake in discussions moving forward. The communities participation is more than welcomed, it’s required.
Campus accountability meetings are an easy way to get up to speed. For information on ways you can be involved with current and future decisions, please contact us here at the Citizen.
Our greatest strength remains our ability to communicate and learn. -bd
PRESS RELEASE
During a lengthy meeting on Tuesday, February 23rd, the Salida R-32-J School Board and superintendent thoroughly reviewed a number of options for reducing the school district’s budget for the 2010-11 school year. Faced with a reduction in state funding of around $563,000, there were tough decisions to be considered. The administration and board solicited input from staff and citizens during a series of meetings including a recent well-attended meeting with the district accountability committee.
By the end of Tuesday’s nights meeting, the Board reached the decision that the necessary reductions could be made in the district’s budget without having a reduction in force of any of the full-time professional teaching staff. This was partially due to retirements and resignations of various current staff members. Some of the positions that will not be re-filled include: a counselor, a librarian, and an elementary teaching position.
Although additional cuts will be in a number of different areas, some of the key reductions will be as follows:
Reduce the Director of Teaching and Learning position from full-time to half-time
Reduce budgets for Strawberry Door, Crest Academy, and Horizon Exploratory Academy
Reduce clerical position at high school by consolidating with data management position
Restructure the Activities Coordinator position
Eliminate the kindergarten bus routes
Hold the line on district’s contributions for employee health insurance premiums
Review the numbers of sections of some elective courses at the high school and possibly shift some positions from full-time to part-time
Reduce travel expenses
Reduce maintenance costs.
Is there any chance that the mill levy tax increase would be attempted again this fall? It seems like community support could be gathered in light of these budget cuts, and even a very small increase in taxation for home owners could restore the education budget such that some of these cuts may be avoided. Is this an option on the table for this fall?
I would hope that Salida sees this as city/citizen issue and not just a school district problem. People on the outside must recognize this and rally the troops.
The district is at capacity, meaning that legally we are unable to go for another MILL LEVY this fall. We are able to go for a BOND issue because we are talking about two different pots of money: cap expenditures (bond…BEST grant pending) vs general fund (mill levy).
This is a state issue that must be solved…every Colorado citizen will be dealing with these cuts. Please explore Believe in a Better Colorado: http://www.believeinabettercolorado.org/basics/index.html
Thanks for your comments! They are appreciated!
RE: BEST GRANT pending (Build Excellent Schools Today). If we get this grant, 41% of funding will come from state funds. The community will have to match 59%. The grants that the district are applying for include new schools (high school and elementary). We are applying for these grants now, because we are not sure how long the BEST money will last. We are anticipating only a few years.
Thank you Salida Citizen for speaking the truth and trying to expand this problem to include all of us and not just the school district for solutions. I am a teacher with tears in her eyes as she reads this and I applaud all who are actively working on decision making for our most precious of citizens, our kids.
Thanks Michelle.
Re Robin’s comment. It is important to recognize that Salida MAY be in a very unique opportunity if we receive the BEST grant.
http://salidacitizen.com/2010/02/what-is-b-e-s-t/
If we do not pass the matching bond, the money goes away, and we move to the bottom of the pile of applicants.
There are several reasons Salida may be in line to receive this grant (worth millions of dollars). One of which is that we have been so well represented at the state level by our school board president Lezlie Burkley, as well as our current Superintendent.
Additionally, because we are tapped out on our ability to pass another mill, per your question Sheree, this shows that our community is doing all it can to the decision makers in charge of dolling out BEST monies. As I said, these are just a couple of the reasons we may be in line to receive BEST funding, and does not address our leaking buildings, or the fact that our representative in the Senate, Gail Schwartz was the person to bring BEST to the floor in Denver. Though critics can always be found, BEST is widely praised.
This still doesn’t make sense to me in terms of priorities. How can educated people decide to drastically cut back essential counseling services and library services for 700+ high school and middle school students, plus maintenance on buildings which need it badly, in order to subsidize formerly private schools serving very few students? It’s time for parents to step up and be heard!
Georgia, Thank you for writing. It’s remarkable how many parents have stepped up, and how many are being heard. In fact, the school board is made up of parents. Administration is made up of parents. Arguably, most of our teachers are parents.
Facilities improvements are being handled on a different track than teaching and staff budgets. Major facilities discussions and planning meetings have been taking place with the Facilities Committee, which, like any school committee is open to you to attend. The district will find out in August if our application for BEST grant funding comes through. Decisions will be made accordingly based on a larger strategy and ongoing needs assessments.
After attending hours of meetings, I believe, though very regrettably for those that may lose their jobs, that the mission has been respected. There is a remarkable amount of support for the school board right now because so many people recognize how easy it is to be heard, how many people’s voices are being respected and how difficult their decisions are. The school board has a thankless job.
If you do not feel parents have had an opportunity to be heard, the sentiment is a factually unfounded.
Priorities are driven by respect for the mission of the district, state law, and community input via, among other things, campus and district accountability meetings. Since the school board’s decisions about priorities are still subjective by nature, the ideologically diverse board bases it’s decisions on meetings and discussions with parents and teachers to arrive at decisions that benefit the kids (the mission).
In short, the school board uses parent and community input as the primary driver for decision making.
I hope you appreciate that with so many people working through the biggest financial challenges that the state has faced in years, constructive input is needed, whereas a rallying cry for revolution is misplaced.
-Ed.
I don’t doubt that parents have had a chance to be heard, but I question whether they’ve fully considered the effects of the proposed cuts. Students don’t stop having problems or cease to need guidance just because services vanish! The district is seeing this as a quick fix to their money woes, but it is at the expense of all the students in the middle school and high school. When (not if) students are suicidal or pregnant who will they turn to? A sign on the office door that says “come back tomorrow – maybe there will be a counselor in the building” just doesn’t cut it. If students are being abused at home who will they turn to? The teachers need the counselors as well – they are NOT trained to counsel students and do crisis response – nor do they have the time. Expect a higher dropout rate – do you know how many kids we have who need constant, dedicated attention to stay in class and on task? And you can expect to see a decline in the numbers of scholarships our grads will receive in future, and in their monetary value. Penny wise, pound foolish school politics r us! And just as much, or more, can be said regarding cutting the librarian position. . .
The teachers and staff of the Salida School District continue to work hard and achieve many successes with our students. In February alone, students from Salida have won a math competition, a wrestling championship, and a history competition. I urge the community to remain positive and support the amazing programs we are able to sustain in the most challenging of economic times. We can easily continue to name-call and point fingers, or we can rise above and ask, “How can we make this work? What can I do to help find solutions in these dire circumstances?” I, for one, will continue to have high expectations of all of my students and nothing will change that.
It is a sad state of affairs when we expect our school system to step up and take on roles that should be filled by a student’s family and community. Our nation and state are beyond broke, and something has to be cut. I would hope that a student truly in need of counseling would be able to turn to one of the local pregnancy centers, local clergy, a suicide hotline, or family friend. At the very least, teachers in the district should be able to refer a student to the appropriate resource when needed.
So far, I think the school board has been wise and careful in what is quite an immense task.