Areas for reduction

I wrote this to the BOE and Rosario based on last night's meeting. I will share it here.

Some areas that seems to be prime for reduction based on my conversations with teachers, administrators, residents and my own perspective:

1. Summer School - A H.S. teacher wrote to me: "I see no need for night school at the high school. This is a big expense ($75,000) that serves very few students. Summer school only costs $35,000, but I believe this could be cut, too. Besides, those students in need of summer school are allowed to take summer school classes in other districts."

2. Technology - There are a few items on the technology budget that those who viewed it from the audience questioned such as a conference increase of over 7,500. Overall, when there are cuts everywhere, the technology budget is about 140k higher for next year than it was and less than half of this is due to salary increases.

3. Home-teaching/ Out of School Suspension: This OSS costs our district about 75k. There is a great deal of research showing that OSS does not deter future problems and can exacerbate them by creating a greater detachment from the school environment. In-school suspension provides an alternative but there are other methods found to be more effective. There are also alternatives to suspensions that are considered far more helpful to the child and the school.

4. Substitutes: Last there was talk last night of substitutes. While the need for substitutes for instructional staff was addressed, the point of whether non-instructional staff substitutes might not be able to be reduced seemed to be missing.

5. Assistant Principal: It was suggested a number of time that the enrollment bubble will be floating away with the graduation of this year's seniors. Even with the current enrollment in the HS it has been questioned by many why 3 administrators are needed when no other district in the county operates this way. If n fact the HS enrollment will be even smaller next year, it seems even more relevant to consider whether the HS needs 2 Assistant Principals.

All together the items above, even if some were reduced rather than fully cut could provide close to 400k in savings which far surpasses the 220k needed to add the TA and AIS Math positions.