School district proposes cutting kindergarten

[proud2BlibKansan]

Faced with a $6.8 million gap, Harrisburg School District Chief Operating Offficer Shawn Farr has proposed a series of dramatic cuts in programs, including the elimination of all kindergarten and pre-k classes next year and eliminating all district sports teams at the end of the fall season.

The changes could be seen by some as a worst-case scenario that may have little chance of approval by the school board. Farr was slated to discuss the proposal at Monday night’s Harrisburg School Board meeting.

The proposed cuts were widely panned by educational experts and city leaders.

“Any of these changes... are going to be disruptive to the educational environment,” Farr conceded in an interview before the board meeting. But “what we’re facing here is, we don’t have the resources to do all the things that other school districts can do.”

more . . . http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2010/09/harrisburg_school_district_adm.html

[Starry Messenger]

1. Argh!

End these stupid wars! Our country is bleeding out. :(

Taxpayers in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania will pay $5.2 million for proposed Iraq war spending in FY2011. Taxpayers in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania will pay $12.2 million for proposed Afghanistan war spending in FY2011.

http://www.nationalpriorities.org/tradeoffs?location_type=4&state=42&town=0.000102015000000000000000000000&program=709&tradeoff_item_item=999&submit_tradeoffs=Get+Trade+Off

[mrs_p]

2. not that i like these cuts one bit

but it is interesting that they will eliminate sports at the end of the fall season -- football stays, while basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, track go...

[EFerrari]

3. Meanwhile, the Pentagon loses billions and no committee is formed

to question the loss.

[dsc]

18. because schedules are set and they have played some games

This would greatly affect playoffs if the Harrisburg teams are any good.

[madmom]

19. Not only that, we are ALWAYS being told that the boosters pay for the

needs of the football team. So then why are they always threatening to cut football if we don't vote for they tax increase? So cut it already, teach them to read.

[CreekDog]

22. Pennsylvania

:eyes:

[Recursion]

4. Good lord... talk about eating your seed corn

I wonder how much it would cost to extend Head Start to those kids

[Jim Sagle]

5. Race to the bottom bitchez!!!!

[Swamp Rat]

6. We're on the fast track to becoming a nation of 'morans'

We're half way there already. :dunce:

[dkf]

7. Is that really the best cost cutting idea they have? Cutting kindergarten?

What kind of moronic administrators do they have running these schools?

[LWolf]

13. When districts are faced with massive cuts for multiple years in a row,

eventually there is nothing left to cut but salaries, jobs, programs, and services.

Where would you suggest they make the cuts?

I don't know what they've ALREADY cut.

[Liberty Belle]

8. They need to get creative and raise some private money.

San Diego Unified is selling corporate sponsorships/ads. I'm not thrilled with that, but I'd rather see a company name on something (within reason) than to see kindergarten eliminated!

Another district launched an anti-truancy program that got a lot of the would-be dropouts back in class and boosted ADA money.

Some sell wrapping paper or other stuff as fundraisers.

How much can keeping kindergarten cost? Teacher salary and some art supplies? C'mon.

[TBF]

12. I'm sure selling wrapping paper will save our schools.

I have a better idea - let's fire Congress and dismantle the Pentagon. Cut defense spending 90%.

[proud2BlibKansan]

30. Popcorn and chocolate

That's the answer.

Oh and trash bags. Those always bring in the bucks.

[Sherman A1]

9. A sad commentary on where we are

simply sad.

[DrDan]

10. yet we continue to fund wars where we have no clue as to why we are there

[Solly Mack]

11. That's just...wow.

So sad.

[Odin2005]

14. Good God!

[w4rma]

15. That money is needed for the Billionaires' tax cuts, though. (nt)

[GrantDem]

16. But we need to fund more war and those billionaires need to keep more of their hard earned money...

:sarcasm:

[Lyric]

17. "Eliminating all...sports teams at the end of the fall season"

When I was in school, it was mostly the boys that played during the Fall and mostly the girls that played during the Spring. The reasoning for this was to ensure that girls who wanted to be cheerleaders AND athletes could do so. In fact, *I* did so--cheerleader and basketball practice during the fall, and girls basketball season during the spring.

I don't know if this school district is like the ones *I* went to, but if it is, then basically they're going to eliminate sports for the girls...not the boys.

Sad, if true.

[woo me with science]

20. Sorry, I don't believe this for a minute.

http://kdka.com/wireapnewsfnpa/Rendell.s.efforts.2.1900644.html

Pa.'S Public Schools Sitting On $2.75 Billion
JAN MURPHY, The (Harrisburg) Patriot-News
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) ―

"Gov. Ed Rendell has made increasing investments in public schools his top priority.

But much of that money has wound up in public schools' rainy day funds.

Since Rendell came to Harrisburg, public schools have amassed $2.75 billion in reserve accounts. That figure has climbed 83 percent from Rendell's 2003 inauguration to June 30, 2009, according to the most recent data available from the state Department of Education.

Public schools ought to be draining those accounts before passing property tax increases on to homeowners, said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Jake Corman, R-Centre County.

"Clearly during this time, you shouldn't be raising taxes and putting money in reserve," said Corman, whose district includes Perry County. "I think that would be wrong if school districts are doing that."

Rendell's spokesman, Gary Tuma, said much of the additional money for schools was targeted to instructional programs and led to the academic gains that students have shown in recent years.

"While fund balances might have grown somewhat, there has still undeniably been a substantial increase in the amount of money that has gone directly to bettering educational quality and classroom performance," he said.

Public school advocates defend the financial cushions that many districts and schools have built up.

....

But Camp Hill School Board member Peter Regan said he thinks districts forget whose money it is they are sitting on."

(more at link)

.............................................................

They will not cut kindergarten. This is just like the threats to cut school bus service in Los Angeles, where they just opened a new school that cost nearly 600 million dollars. Our school districts in the Midwest used to do this. They threaten to cut what is most important to families, in order to garner support for increased school funding.

If they actually cut kindergarten, I will eat my hat.

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. The problem could be how funds are allocated.

Money on paper doesn't mean every program is fully funded.

[woo me with science]

24. That is no excuse for threatening to cut kindergarten.

If the funds are misallocated, you take steps to fix that. You don't hold kindergarten for ransom from the community when they are having trouble putting food on the table, because you can't manage your billions in reserve.

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. Do you understand how education is funded?

Some states don't fund kindergarten. Local districts must find local resources for the funding. We have a preschool program but get no money from the state for it. BUT the preschool students' attendance is counted for AYP. I have taught in programs where pencils were inventoried weekly while no one ever made sure we had enough textbooks.

School finance is a complicated mess. You can't make assumptions based on bank account balances.

[Hansel]

27. Yep. Votes on whether or not to raise local property taxes determine

whether or not there are education cuts in our district. We always votes to increase them. However, we wouldn't have to do this if our idiot dictator governor, Tim Pawlenty, would quit protecting his rich buddies from actually having to put something back into the state from which they have sucked out all of their profits on the backs of the middle class. We pay to educate their employees and they laugh all the way to the bank.

[proud2BlibKansan]

28. Isn't Pawlenty the governor of MN?

The article in the OP is about PA.

[Luminous Animal]

31. This tells me nothing about Harrisburg's finances. The reserve numbers are for the ENTIRE state.

And, as the article states, some districts have significant reserves and others do not.

[proud2BlibKansan]

32. I guess we are supposed to assume all the money goes in one pot

and when districts face budget shorts, they just make a withdrawal from this immense reserve fund! LOL

[JCMach1]

23. My daughter advanced the most of ANY year in Kindergarten

She went from barely reading at all to reading Goosebumps.

[yella_dawg]

26. Oh my god!!!

Not the sports teams! Never, never the sports teams! What is education coming to!

[Chemical Bill]

29. wow indeed.

[Nikki Stone1]

33. Wait for piratizers to fill the gap. "Kindergarten of Phoenix" anyone?

Or "Kaplan Kindergarten"?

[proud2BlibKansan]

34. Probably not far from the truth