Well, it's budget time in dear, old Newtown. Here's a partial list of the things the Board of Education is considering for elimination or at the very least pay-as-you-go.At the Middle School (Grades 7 & 8):
Sports
Dance team
Drama Club
Interact Club (I don't know what it means either)
Photography Club
Year Book
Pinata Club (I'm not kidding!)
Intermediate Level (Grades 5 & 6):
Dance Team
Drama Club
Interact Club
Literary Magazine
Kick Ball
Ski Club
Art Club
Knitting Club (honest)
"B" Cool Club
Yoga Club
The costs involved in all of these is the stipend that goes to the faculty adviser, the cost of keeping the school open & the cost of after-school transportation (yes, for some of these a bus is provided to get kids home).
The reason why I'm pointing this out is because we have two diametrically opposed forces at work in this town. Force number one: taxes must NOT go up. Force number two: Do not under any circumstances cancel my child's program. Cut classroom teachers, eliminate a math or science program, fire an assistant principal, anything, but keep your hands off my child's program. His/her self esteem is at stake and that simply won't do.
So there you have it. It's kind of like the not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) mentality. Yes, we need that cell tower-but not here. Guaranteed as budget deliberations heat up and the Board of Education edges closer and closer to making the logical and best decisions, the special interest groups will start crawling out of the woodwork, screaming their brains out. It's still early but it will happen. And does it sound familiar? (hint: State of CT and halls of Congress). More on this later as developments unfold.
1 comment:
I hear what you're saying, George, that's for sure! The kids are starting to come out to speak on behalf of after school activities, and they even have a NMS FB page. On behalf of my friend, Nancy Cedor's knitting club...though--she had a classroom filled with a mix of special needs kids and reg. ed. kids, blended together one kid helping the other that she started last year. The kids at NMS even came back this year to help sponsor the younger ones for free! I would volunteer to see that continue. I swear...and Nancy would probably kill me, b/c I don't even knit...I'd tangle 'em all up for sure!!!
BUT! Think about this--teachers got furloughed, admin. got raises (and so did other town employees), it is the nasty little secret that hasn't spread in town. And now we also have a lost Feb. vacation out there that would have saved the district bussing costs and heating costs for at least a week. Our schedule is now tied to the Magnet School in Danbury. There are other thoughts too, but even though I'm a tax-payer, I have to be ever so careful in my position. I want to see the teachers at my level left in their positions, b/c the cuts there just don't make sense at all. Reed was designed the way it is with a LOT of careful planning...and a lot of taxpayers spent to generate those thoughts! Imagine...850 students and a PE staff proposed to be cut in half. They come in groups of 75-100 kids. Two teachers? We're talking huge bodies with mega energy. Liability? Yup. Okay...soap box over, for now. The board really listened the other night, and I was glad to see that.
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