Our town is going to have major cutbacks in the schools next year

[Kteacher]

All the aides were told at the end of school yesterday that they needed to attend a meeting today regarding the future of our town's school system. I know many of the selectboard members, and they have been telling me for a while of the dire straits the town is in. Surrounding towns have already cut out all aide positions, cut out P.E., and started charging a fee to ride the school buses. It looks like we are headed in that direction. I may not have a job next year

 

[Cindy B]

So sorry to hear that. When we lived in Ohio, cutbacks were fairly common.

 

[Mskanga]

We have a school district in an area close to us that has no transportation due to cutbacks, I hope this doesn't happen to us or it would be a major kaos. Good luck!

 

[vickyBaby]

No P.E.???? Oh my goodness.

 

[sharbear]

Unfortunately this seems to be the wave of the future. Our school district is lucky we have made some cuts but not too many. Most of the other districts have made much bigger cuts. I wonder if the can cut out a lot of the aides. What about special needs kids. Don't schools have to provide assistance for them.

Many factors contribute to this, one of which is that people don't understand how much it costs to educate children these days. Special needs and how they address them is a big cost for our school district. Remember the days all of the special needs kids were herded into one classroom and kept away from all of the other kids. Or put into schools just for them. Thankfully we have changed since then and all kids get to be intregated into regular classrooms and my kids will have a better appreciation for kids with special needs and not to be afraid of them.

Boy I am on my soapbox today, just a reminder to all of the people who have levy's to vote on this year to vote for the schools and the kids. It costs a lot more today than it did 20-30 years ago.

Sorry I hope you don't lose your job and sorry for going off on this subject.

Sharbear

 

[The Mystery Machine]

WOW! No PE??? I didn't know that they could do that. Charging for the BUS?
Sorry to hear this, as I am shocked that this goes on. I thought public schools had to maintain a certain types of classes. Guess not.

So far when they make cuts they cut back the teachers, make class sizes larger, and do not fund any extras. Our PTA is huge and it is 'they' we have to thank for all our extras.

 

[caitycaity]

wow -- how can they cut out PE?

where i grew up PE was mandatory by law for all students through 12th grade.

 

[aprincessmom]

We've paid for busses in our town for about 3 years now. If you live within a 2 mile radius of the schools, you pay for service for all grades K-12. It's per child with the fee per child decreasing based on the number of children you have attending the schools. After 4 children, the rest are free.

We also pay for extra curriculars like sports, music, and other afterschool activities. So if you play soccer, you pay a fee to cover the uniforms, coaching salaries, equipment, field maintenance, etc.

In my sister's town they offer full and half day kindergarten. Half day is no extra charge. If you opt for full day you pay just under $2000. And this is public school. A few towns in MA have gone to this option.

 

[Buckalew]

It is no better down in the South. My sister is once again waiting to see if she will have a job (PE teacher) down in S. Carolina. They are waiting to tell the lay-offs until after the November elections.

 

[Bob O]

Vote against all levy increases!!!!!!
As for schools they are always crying for more money and always propose to cut the popular items out of the budget so as to get more money. I dont know how the public schools in everybody's area is but in my city they are a disaster and the answer is always give them more money but the school scores/grades just get worse. Of course i live in a big city so hope fully for most it is better.

 

[Dopey Sharon]

I work in the kitchen...yes, I'm a lunch lady! lol We're already hearing rumors that our jobs are on the line...we're going to be a line on the ballot...whether or not the people want to keep us or go with a private company. I don't know how true it is...but it's scary. Our school board elections aren't until April. SO...to the people on these boards from Washington Township...please vote for us to keep our jobs! Thanks!

 

[ASFCurly]

the other year they almost had cutbacks in the school district that I went to (my little sister still goes there) the people in the town that I live in have plenty of money believe me, but they just didn't want to use it for the schools, so when the levy failed they were going to cut all busses, some aids, and teachers and things, they had an emergency levy in August of that year and it passed, from voting time in Nov till August quite a few people didn't know if they would have jobs that year.

 

[bobcat]

Sorry to hear your job might be on the line. It's a scary feeling.

Regarding PE the requirements are different for each state. While a certain amount of time per year must be spent on PE I believe some states allow it to be taught by the classroom teachers and not certified PE teachers. That eliminates a salary and overburdens the academic teachers even more. Isn't that a good choice.

 

[SeaSpray]

Well thats a shame I sure hope it doesn't effect your job.

I live in MA too...what part of the state are you in, kteacher?

Fortunately the small town I live in hasn't had any problems like that....yet! They still have many, many after school programs at no charge, and this includes a bus ride home for the kids unless they walk or a parent picks them up.