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Issue 77
Be Part of the Solution
The Healdsburg School District is now in financial
crisis. The prospect of declaring insolvency either this year or next is
a distinct possibility. This situation is not due to any mismanagement
on the part of the School Board or the administration. It is a result of
many factors beyond their control. The biggest are:
- Declining enrollment for 5 consecutive years.
This year we are down from last year’s enrollment by 156 students.
This is due primarily to the movement of families with young
children out of the Healdsburg area where they can no longer afford
to live. State funding is directly related to school population.
- Reduced state funding. This year the state
suspended Proposition 98 guaranteeing a minimum funding level to
local schools.
- A commitment to provide lifetime medical
benefits for retirees. The costs for this benefit have increased
500% in the last 5 years and will most likely continue to climb. The
district now supports over 176 retirees.
Major additional cuts must be found again this
year. After making a reduction of $1.2 million in last year’s budget,
the school must find another $600,000 - $1 million this year. A
reduction of this magnitude will be devastating. To accomplish it the
Budget Resources Committee, which advises the School Board on budget
issues, has been considering such actions as eliminating the entire
athletic program, eliminating the elementary music program, and bringing
all elementary class sizes up from 20 to 30 students per class. These
and other proposed reductions will be presented to the School Board at
the Dec. 8 study session. The board will have to adopt a set of
reductions at its Dec. 15 meeting. The community is invited to attend
both of those meetings.
But what else can we do? Another way to address a
budget shortfall is to find additional revenue. This is a time for
creative thinking and generous giving. How can the community help?
- Communicate to the School Board (boardoftrustees@husd.com)
your creative ideas for additional revenues or reductions.
- Consider a generous pledge to the school
district to be used for their greatest need or for a specific area.
- Review the school wishlists often (www.husd.com)
and give what you can.
- Join the Healdsburg Education Foundation’s
Adopt-A-Class program by adopting a classroom teacher or department
at any $ amount.
- Make sure that your child attends school every
day unless he/she is truly ill. State revenue is based on daily
attendance and even a partial day will count as an attended day
- Join e-scrip at
www.escrip.com. Register your Safeway and credit cards to make a
donation with every purchase – at no cost to you.
- Sign up for a Community Smart Card at Big
John's Market or via
www.comunitysmart.com, to make donations (at no cost to you)
with purchases of goods and services.
- When shopping online, start at
www.schoolpop.com. After registering the school of your choice,
a percentage of all online purchases will automatically go to that
school.
- Support all local school fundraisers. Each
school puts on regular fundraisers during the year to raise funds to
supplement regular state funding. Whether it’s a spaghetti dinner,
magazine sale, gift wrap sale, $1 a Week Program, or car wash –
please support the school fundraising efforts whenever possible.
- Contact your city, county, state and federal
representatives to notify them of our situation and request their
assistance in resolving it. Budget Resources Committee member Nancy
Carlson has already written an excellent letter which has been sent
to many of our legislators. Send a copy of it in your name or
re-word it to express your own opinions. A copy of her letter is on
the district website at
http://www.husd.com/budgetcomm.asp.
Please pitch in and make a difference for your
local schools.
BE PART
OF THE SOLUTION.
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