What has your public school system cut to save money???

[ChrisAlli]

Question says it all. But I'm just wondering what other school districts are cutting to save money. Ours is just getting crazy I think. DH is ready to look into private, but I'm not sure they are much better???

 

[okeydokey]

Ours have cut art and music to a half year each, 2 schools share a teacher. They also cuts subs. They have so much per month and when that runs out they just split up the kids in the class and send them to other classes where they will either be lucky and get a desk or have to sit on the floor and do their work all day.

 

[taitai]

Nothing, really. We passed a levy a couple years ago to raise taxes for the schools just in case of a downturn so we are doing pretty well. I know other schools are not. However, our school district is in the process of adding programs and classrooms....construction going on at every school. I know everything (all school newsletters, payment for everything, report cards, etc)is going electronic to cut the cost of paper and postage. Not sure if that is due to costs or going green.

 

[~Kristina~]

They are talking about cutting elementary (5th grade) band and removing librarians. But keep sports free to play.

 

[lindsmom]

Ours have cut art and music to a half year each, 2 schools share a teacher. They also cuts subs. They have so much per month and when that runs out they just split up the kids in the class and send them to other classes where they will either be lucky and get a desk or have to sit on the floor and do their work all day.

We're fairly lucky - only a few assistants and some other support staff (mostly part time) have been cut. Knock on wood.

 

[RMulieri]

We just lost 4 teachers and they are not re-hiring them.Unfortunately our area is expanding rapidly and the schools CAN NOT keep up, but our Senior citizens ( we have a lrg population of them) keep voting against the school budget,so alot of things keep getting cut at the expense of our kids...

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

This isn't recent but it was during my sophomore year in HS when they did some major budget cuts... this was in 2003. Our school year was shortened by 23 days! So instead of ending in the 2nd week of June we were let out May 23.

 

[stacy6552]

Our schools froze salaries and increased insurence costs of employees, as well as cut staff development. We cut funding for some standardized tests. We increased class size and decreased special ed assistants. We cut substitutes and summer school. Increased sports and parking fees. We cut in the construction dept (which is bad when you are building new schools) and assistant athletic directors. We cut busses for field trips and after school activities.

 

[lissiesmum]

I'm a Title 1 instructor in Manchester, NH and I work in the poorest school in our city, where over 60% of our students are English language learners and 93% of our students receive free/reduced lunch. Our wonderful district just cut 78 elementary school teacher positions, and they are not replacing positions where teachers are retiring or taking a leave. There will be almost 200 teaching positions city wide that will be vacated and not replaced! On top of that, they are making our full day kindergarten into half day, which will eliminate another 20 jobs, they are laying off paraprofessionals, and will also be cutting music and art programs, as well as many sports teams. Our district is in sad shape. I have been looking for a classroom teacher position of my own now for two years and the economy is in such bad shape. Our classroom sizes are going to be outrageous, and the talk is, in the high schools, that some class sizes will have 50 students per class!
My district needs to shape up, as our students are going to really suffer

 

[Mrs.Toad]

Bussing, tech support, educational assistants, training, supplies, teachers... At our elementary school, two grade levels are going from 4 classes of approx. 24 kids each to three classes of 32 kids each.

 

[princessmom29]

Our system is cutting teacher units which means more students in the classroom. My chemistry classes all had 30 students when they were supposd to be capped at 25 b/c the lab will only hold that many. My sister had 27 in K with no aide!!! MY DD will be in a private school next year for K, in a classroom of 17. Elementary school art and music are already nonexistant except in one performing arts magnet school, high school music programs get no funds other than paying the band/chorus director. They are discussing cutting out all dance teachers in high schools.

 

[adoptionmomma4]

We just had a levy fail here for the second time. To make up for the deficit our schools cut teachers and increased class sizes, closed 2 elementary schools and one special education school, cut all middle and high school sports and music, are closing the buildings right after school and eliminating latch key. They also cut all high school bussing. Our schools are in sad shape. I am so thankful I am able to homeschool but I do feel bad that the other kids are going to suffer.

Unfortunately, people can not afford the increase in taxes. My taxes are already $6,000/year with almost 3K going to the school. A new levy will raise my taxes almost $100/month. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it is 25% of my grocery budget or my kids piano lessons, or swimming, or dance. I voted in favor of the levy but it was going to mean I would have to take things away from my own family to support the schools. There needs to be a change in how schools are funded. It is so sad!

 

[powellrj]

We closed 5 schools this year and will have more cuts next year.

 

[fortcampers]

Our county is cutting 30 teachers and 24 teacher assistants. Our first year teachers were told they were all being terminated and rumor has it that next year they want to cut teachers pay by 6%, increase classroom size to 34----6 over the "legal limit" and have them clean their own classrooms to cut back on the amt of janitors we have. Other counties around us are also losing a lot of teachers and assistants. The state next to us has cut subs as well and just combine classes, which is not good for me if we do that as well, as I have been subbing for 5 years now and really wanted to get in on as a teacher assistant. Not looking good for me, the teachers, the other staff and the kids. In the end, the kids are the ones who will suffer the most in the long run---and they are our future. I hate to any of our teachers and assistants go-----they are all so amazingly dedicated to the students at our school and I know they all have families of their own. It's very sad.

 

[mom2aredhead]

Ours have cut art and music to a half year each, 2 schools share a teacher. They also cuts subs. They have so much per month and when that runs out they just split up the kids in the class and send them to other classes where they will either be lucky and get a desk or have to sit on the floor and do their work all day.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is one of the main reasons I did not move to Florida when I was offered a job transfer there.

 

[themousetrap]

My job.

That's...all I want to say about that.

 

[PollyannaMom]

They're raising class sizes here next year. - I heard 3rd grade and up will have 35 students!

 

[mom2princessj]

We used to live in Illinois and the district we lived in made alot of cuts...one of the reasons we moved back to Indiana. We paid an ENORMOUS amount in taxes with over half going to the school district and they said they were still broke They wanted to levy more on the taxpayers however with the amount of foreclosures that were mounting out there it was just impossible. They had MANY upset parents at the school board meeting when they announced the cuts. It was really quite sad. By that time our house had sold so we were relieved to get out.

They cut sports from the elementary school all together, spanish for the elementary kids, and computers from all grades k-4. They had proposed an all day K program but that got scrapped as well.

 

[patchchild]

In Massachusetts.

The town I teach is has tried for an override for 3 years in a row and it has been voted down each time. We're in huge trouble this year and there are going to be big cuts of classroom teachers. My building will have 3 or 4 less classes next year. 31 kids in many class, after 21 in a class this year.

Somehow, with all of this, we're not looking at cutting gym or music or art or anything like that. There will be sports fees at the middle and high school.

 

[ChrisAlli]

They're raising class sizes here next year. - I heard 3rd grade and up will have 35 students!

WOW, is that with one teacher?