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STUDENTS WILL FEEL BUDGET-CUT IMPACT Spotsylvania County kicks off the school year tomorrow with students feeling the impact of $15 million in budget cuts Date published: 8/23/2010
By PAMELA GOULD By the time school bells ring in Spotsylvania County tomorrow morning, secondary students will have walked farther to reach their bus stops, fall athletes will have felt the sting of a new sports fee, and school officials will have placed additional desks in some classrooms. Each of those steps is a result of about $15 million in cuts from last year's budget. The 2010-11 school budget is 10.3 percent smaller than the previous year's, primarily because of a drop in state funding. The budget cuts translated into slightly larger class sizes because of the elimination of 13 elementary and 30 secondary classroom teachers. Those teaching positions were among 138 positions cut to balance the fiscal 2011 budget. Those cuts also included elimination of the elementary school Spanish program. The number of employees within the school division has decreased by 270 over the past two years. The division eliminated 132 positions for fiscal 2010. Athletes in fall high school sports have already felt the effect of the decision to charge a $100 fee per sport to participate. The fee was due after athletes made their teams. The board approved the fees for middle and high school athletes rather than accept Superintendent Jerry Hill's proposal to eliminate freshman and middle school sports and no longer fund the cost of transportation for high school sports. The school division estimated that those costs total $401,591, broken down into $190,432 for middle school sports, $185,000 for high school athletic transportation and $26,159 for freshman coaching stipends. A four-person parent committee is leading a countywide fundraising effort to close the gap between the cost of sports and the fees collected. The ultimate goal is to eliminate the need for the fees, said committee co-chair Sylvia Williams. Details on the first formal fundraiser aren't yet available, but individuals and businesses have already been in touch with the committee heading up SPARKS, the acronym for Spotsylvania Parental Assistance Regarding Keeping Sports. Some have already made donations to the division's sports fund, and others have expressed interest in taking part in fundraisers, Williams said. Pamela Gould: 540/735-1972
Read more stories about Spotsylvania Date published: 8/23/2010
start on monday--kept all the angry parents from attending the sb meeting last night to complain up close and personal to the board about how the admins "cost cutting" hurts the kids and puts them in danger from more than just ignorance.
With all the things that have happened in Spotsylvania Co.(Lisk Silva) and all the registered sex offenders (over 60) you would think Spotsylvania Co would put children's safety above a few dollars saved. The fact that kids have to walk further and usually to main thoroughfares is a dangerous and irresponsible decision by Spotsylvania Co Transportation. If you agree Call and file a complaint with Dr. James Meyer, Asst. Superintendent of Administrative Services. 540-582-5125 or email jameyer@scs.k12.va.us
if you don't believe these cuts will hurt look at Stafford-once one of the top districts in the area-with similar cuts, test scores have dropped, many veteran, highly qualified teachers have left or resigned, the new teachers don't have the mentors they need-anyone who has been in Stafford for years can tell you quality has dropped considerably
What are you using as a basis for your assertion that any new teachers that are coming to Spotsy are not "good new teachers" ? Why are you fereling the need to dispariage any new teachers that start at Spotsy?
advising the school board--most there don't every question enough what he and other administrators tell them is true, hence some of the royal back lashes they have felt last few years. unfortuately, many of the cuts are penny-wise, pound-foolish while fat has been protected--at the cost of children who are students in spotsy today, taxpayers/welfare recipients tomorrow. the absence of the experienced and cuts in support staffing are already diminishing education and school hasn't even started.
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