Lynden Schools Adjust Budget
Bill Nienhuis | May 01, 2009 | Comments 1
The Lynden School Board has decided to increase the cost of lunch programs, sports activities, and preschool to better align their budget for the coming year.
In addition to the cost increases, the board has decided to cut the cost of other programs and, more substantially, layoff teachers.
The board reviewed and tentatively approved more than $1.1 million in cuts to the 2009-10 school year budget, but it’s not yet certain if that will be enough.
The original goal for the meeting was to make $1.3 million in cuts, but the board had not received an exact amount of funding it will receive from the state in time for the meeting. A special meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 7, when the board hopes to have heard more from the state to complete its cuts.
The legal deadline to notify any teaching staff that could be laid off next school year is May 15. In Thursday’s meeting an estimated six classroom teachers were cut, but other trims are likely to follow, said acting Superintendent Rick Thompson.
Thompson released his budget savings plan to the district and school board Friday, April 17. The plan includes about $2 million in reductions for the 2009-10 school year.
The 2008-09 budget included about $24 million in expenditures. (Bellingham Herald)
While I appreciate the fact that the school board is going through the budget “line-by-line”, the real cost cuts should focus on the top instead of the bottom. Administrative costs never seem to go down. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the salary of a school superintendent decrease as a result of belt tightening. And what about waste? When was the last time the district, or the county for that matter, did an thorough study on the extras and non-essential expenditures? Perhaps it is something that is done regularly, but the public doesn’t seem to hear much about cost decreases due to good management. All I seem to hear from education is they need more, more, more. I have kids in the public school system in Lynden, and I am constantly “nickled and dimed” for this program and that program. I pay because I want my kids to enjoy themselves and learn something, but when I hear that there still isn’t enough money, when we spend billions on education in this country, it can be frustrating.
Filed Under: Schools
I am not a resident of Lynden and my children did not attend Lynden schools. However, I have to totally agree with you. In my experience, public schools are full of waste. The system needs a total cleansing, and that cleansing should start from the top.
What happens is school districts keep adding this, and adding that, and before you know it, they have everyone’s special interests covered but the basics start to slip by the wayside. And, by basics, I’m talking about reading, writing and good ol’ arithmetic.
Eventually, you end up with a lot of college-age kids who can’t do basic algebra and possess the attention span of a spider monkey.
The system — not just in Lynden — is shot. Time to start fresh, and the best way to begin is by taking a good hard look at what’s going on in leadership.