The Bellingham School District officials will share budget information at a community meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 15.
The purpose of the meeting is to give community members an idea of what the district operating budget could look like for the 2010-11 school year, based upon the newest information from the state.
After a short presentation, people will have an opportunity to ask budget-related questions and provide budget savings ideas.
The meeting will be from 6:30 to 7 p.m. in the board room of the Roeder Administration Building, 1306 Dupont St.
According to the information that acting superintendent Sheri Brown gave at the December 10th Bellingham School District meeting, Bellingham Public Schools stands to lose at least 17 teachers–and could even edge up to 29 teachers [17 more being funded by the eliminated I-728 monies]. How can BSD and the Bellingham teacher’s union justify reopening Lowell Elementary school for 200 students at the cost of $450,000+, and the potential loss of 29 teachers? It seems that the declaration of our supt. Sheri Brown and school board spokesperson Ann Whitmire to reopen Lowell elementary in the face of such crushing economic news, is suspect. If the dire economic forecast is true, why aren’t we putting everything back on the table?
Where are we headed with these budget talks? Shouldn’t we be prioritizing that retaining teachers is our top priority? Or is it that only certain sections of town will have overloaded classrooms?
Perhaps concerned citizens should show up for this short 30 minute meeting. There might even be time for the Q & A as promised in the above article.
Correction: 12 teachers from I-728 monies.
This is an issue being driven by certain school board members and some of their vocal neighbors, not by the district, union, or even teachers themselves (in fact, several Lowell teachers are embarrasses by all of this, and if reopened, may put in for a transfer). The school board has basically said that they feel the district is being disrespectful to them when they have asked for them to reconsider this decision. Yes, this is a disgraceful thing to do in light of the budget crisis with so many jobs on the line, Kindergarten scheudle cuts, remedial literacy cuts, ELL cuts, creating a shorter day for 3rd-5th to save money on bussing, and then cutting out or down PE, library, and music. Citizens need to get into meetings, ask questions, and if this does happen, look at new members to vote in for the future.