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Jon Alty and daughter Michelle (foreground) look over the schedule and location of Michelle's classes during a freshman orientation and open house at Massaponax High School Thursday evening.
Massaponax High's new principal, Joe Pisani, chats with club organizers during an event at the school.
Incoming freshmen (from left) Brandon Parks, Nathan Dyer and Justin Lucas look over Dyer's class schedule |
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
Email: pgould@freelancestar.com
Spotsylvania County
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