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Remember what cuts mean

Is there room for more cuts and efficiencies with schools?  The answer depends on what is important to you.

Big School/Small School: In small schools one certified staff member represents an entire elective program.  Band, agriculture, art, and digital learning are just a few of the programs that are represented by only one or a partial teacher in HSCSD #1.  Reducing a position can eliminate an entire program and student opportunity.

Personal Importance: I learned long ago that every person’s passion may not be important to others, but that does not make it less important.  For me personally, home economics, or family consumer science was not a program that I identified with much in high school.  However, during my last year as high school principal here in Thermopolis, we lost the program, and I watched an entire group of students search for their passion when it was gone.  It was important to them and it played a big role in their enthusiasm for school.

Last spring we held a community meeting in regard to school funding that was well attended by our local patrons.  We discussed programming cuts and the District’s current financial status following reductions.  We had a great question from a patron in regard to buses with small numbers of students.  In the current funding model, transportation spending cannot be substituted to keep programs; in layman’s terms, it is a separate pot of money.  

It is important to note that transportation funding was frozen (not to exceed previous year’s totals) from this point forward.  This transportation cut is in addition to the percentage cut to staffing and programs (general fund) of approximately $600,000 in 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 school years in HSCSD #1.  Continuation of this freeze will mean services to patrons and students will be reduced as inflation reduces spending power.  This will cause districts to look at priorities.  Field trips will be considered for reduction.  If your student is an upcoming fourth grader making plans to attend the Yellowstone trip, a school tradition, this would be a concern to you.  Town bus routes could be limited or non-existent.  If you drop off your students already this is not a big change, but if you depend on the buses for parent work schedules, it is certainly impactful.  Activity trips could be limited, but because of state scheduling requirements, it is more likely complete individual activities will be eliminated, taking into consideration requirements to maintain equity in opportunities.  If your student does not participate, this may not be a concern, but for those that do, it will be a priority.  

Those that speak negatively of schools do so with a tone that paints schools across the state as overfunded.  It is important to remember “who” schools are; they are teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals, and other employees.  However, the primary reason schools exist is for students’ learning.  Negative comments about education being overfunded take on a different meaning if you change a couple of the words in those statements.  If one seeking cuts were to change the word school to the word students, “we have overfunded students learning, and we have given our children entirely too many opportunities, and it is time we cut them,” the statement is much different.  If reduction is the only option for the legislature, tell our parents directly, “we don’t have the funds to ensure your children have it better than you did.”  Those statements are not as easy to say, and I think may be offensive to some patrons, especially since the very funds the legislature protect, belong to the patrons.

Please take time and visit with your representation about what you would like to see for the future of Wyoming’s youngest citizens.  

Thank you and Go Bobcats!

 

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