I got this email this morning:
"Minisink Valley Schools on Friday morning announced that the District is laying off forty (40) teachers at the end of June 2010. This is in addition to the fourteen (14) teachers they offered early retirement to and we may lose in June 2010 due to attrition. This is also in addition to the teachers that have left previously and have not been replaced due to a hiring freeze.
"The district announced that the result will be larger class sizes. Class size for regular education classes average 25-27 students. With a possible reduction of 54+ teachers this could easily relate to 35-40 students in a class.
"Many Minisink residents are not aware that the district has $11,791,699 of taxpayers money that will grow to be over $13,000,000 by June 2010. New York State reprimanded Minisink Valley Central School District for holding onto too much taxpayer money and that they need to have a plan in place to spend it, because they can only hold 4% of the annual budget in reserve."
Several people have asked what this means for us as a community and a church. It a minimum it will mean several changes because of the disruptions in classes at the schools. It will also mean that some of our church members and friends will be unemployed (especially since this seems to be the pattern at most local districts and we have teachers staff and administration members at many of them).
There are several things we can do. We can attend school board meetings so we are well educated about what will happen. We can have our antenna up for folks who may be loosing their jobs and need much love and assistance, emotionally and possibly financially. And we can begin to think of ways we can help families educationally, especially if they will now be under served by before and after school programs.
This is a time when the church can make a difference, by not giving into fear and panic, but instead showing how people of deep faith handle adversity, by banding together to care for each other and the community God has given us to care for.
So what can and should we do. Call together some of your friends and lets think and dream together. Our kids and their educations matter. Our teachers and school employees matter too. How can we be the church of Jesus in this situation?
All at Once
3 years ago
1 comments:
Great information and thanks for sharing. March 18th is the budget development meeting where all remaining budgets will be discussed and will be a good opportunity for community members to gain more information and address the school board. Also note that a focus group is being developed for people interested in providing feedback on the search for a new superintendent. See minisink.com for more details.
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