Budget Cuts

Dear School Board Members,

I am proposing the following budget cuts based on our previous meeting in which it was decided that the budget would need to be reduced by 20%. Making these cuts was not an easy decision, but I think you will understand my reasonings and decisions for the budget.

First, I have decided not to make any reductions in the budget for the instructional staff. I strongly believe that cutting this area of the budget will lower morale and hurt our district in the coming years. These instructional staff members are the heart and soul of what we do, and in order for our students to be successful in school, we need outstanding teachers who are able to teach children without worrying about layoffs or cuts to their health insurance. Unfortunately, this means that some small cuts will be necessary to the support staff, with the majority of cuts happening to the budget for part-time staff. While the support staff is important for running a school, we unfortunately need to cut back on the number of support staff in order to better support our students with supplies and other resources. I have not decided to reduce the budget on the custodial staff and am only reducing the budget for building maintenance by one point because children need a working and clean environment in order to learn and stay focused.

Second, I have decided to make slight reductions to the library staff but not reduce the number of books or periodicals and journals that are available to students. For them to best learn and develop their love of reading, they need access to the best materials for research and new books. I have not made any cuts to the academic technology and teacher instructional budget because these give students and teachers access to millions of resources for learning. I have, however, decided to completely cut the textbook adoption budget. This is because textbooks are being used less in the classroom as we move towards information found with technology. The textbooks we currently have will be sufficient for the upcoming academic year.

Third, I have made slight budget cuts to faculty services. We will still provide some funding for employee teacher reimbursement and staff development. Completely cutting these programs would reduce morale and teacher incentives for success. However, some cuts are necessary because these programs are not vital for student success at this time.

Finally, I have decided to protect student services by keeping the budget for most of the programs. Research shows that these extracurricular activities as well as parental support greatly affect how successful a student will be in school. Therefore, I do not want to cut these items too much. I would like to cut some funds for summer school as well as after-school programs that are not recreational or athletic. We should cut these funds because attendance for these programs is much lower than other programs in the district, and our money would be better spent on other student programs with higher attendance and that encourage parental support and participation in their child's academics.

Attached you will find my proposed budget for the upcoming school year. I look forward to discussing this further with all of you at the next school board meeting.

Sincerely,
Kaitlynn Smith

My proposed budget