Diana,
Thank you much for your detailed thoughts. I am hoping that your ideas get
passed onto the whole school committee as well as the Heart Committee and
they take you up on your offer of assistance. It is my understanding that
the assistant superintendent, Gail Healy, is the one who manages the
transportation for the district. If you don't know her, perhaps one of the
Warwick committee members can introduce you on Tuesday. Your background and
energy could be a real asset to this big ticket item.
The latest I've heard is that the new treasurer has gotten more accurate
figures and the deficit is less. Closer to 150k with the cuts discussed
last week (and the lunch $ planned already approved).
Thanks,
Tom
On Sun, Jun 17, 2018, 5:53 PM Diana Noble <nobled@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I don't usually post but I have to share some of my thoughts. Tom, I
appreciate the updates. I will be there Tuesday.
Thank you to those of you who have been working hard to understand and fix
the Pioneer Valley School District budget crisis. Thank you to teachers who
made sure the whole community is paying attention, to the Heart committee
for exploring options that some couldn’t admit were necessary, to the new
PVRSD Treasurer who has brought clarity to this failed budget and to the
new Superintendent for his willingness to serve in difficult times for a
half-time salary.
I am not a current PVRSD parent nor do I work in the district. I am a
concerned Warwick taxpayer and I care deeply about providing quality
education to all children. I also believe in providing a well-rounded
education that includes the arts, exposure to real world projects and team
building. My perspective is shaped by my own experiences; my (now grown)
children are drawn to the arts and preferred sports that aren’t available
at school. I was never a traditional athlete. We all still had
extremely strong college applications when we finished high school.
I have looked through the district budget (the old version available on
the district website) and read all of the information I could get my hands
on over the last few weeks.
I see how expensive it is to provide education in the small rural schools
but I absolutely cannot support closing any of the PVRSD schools until and
unless the hard work is done to consider many options including these:
- Can we educate younger children in their hometowns, with a teaching
principal if necessary, but consolidate all the older elementary classes in
one or two of the bigger schools?
- Explore all the potential benefits and impacts of a four-day week.
- Expand fees for extracurricular activities using a consistent and
fair sliding scale (for example 3 tiers: free lunch recipients, half price
lunch recipients and full price).
- Look for parity between budgets for the Arts and for Athletics at
PVRS particularly as a per-student contribution to extra-curriculars. I
have heard many members of the community talking about the value of the
arts as well as athletics but what I see in the budget for PVRS is $88,300
for Athletics (including $48,500 for athletics transportation and the rest
for referees, coach workshops, athletic supplies, athletics-grounds) but
just $12,400 for the Arts (art supplies and band/vocal).
- Reach out for possible cross-district partnerships including
increasing the size of the region but also for less common things like
extracurricular activities/sports. For example, a football team that
includes both Turners Falls and PVRS – perhaps paired with a PVRS-TFHS swim
team.
- Pre-K has its own unique challenges. Should early childhood
education be provided centrally at just one location? What percent of
families take advantage of this now and how would this change if just one
full day program were available?
I don’t have the expertise to evaluate the options listed above but I am
available and ready to help where I can. I have worked in transportation my
entire career and always circle back to the part of the budget that I
understand. I have more questions that are closer to my field.
- What is the deadline for finalizing the busing contract with
Kuzmeskus? Has anyone contacted their staff about possible transportation
efficiencies?
- For most transportation companies there is just minimal savings
associated with running smaller buses so the best way to find
transportation savings is to fill the larger buses as much as possible.
How full are they now?
- Are there still 10 buses pulling up to PVRS twice a day, even as
students stay late or take rides with parents and friends?
- What is the transportation savings associated with realigning school
days so high school and elementary students can share buses in the am and
the pm? Is this possible?
- I expect it is impractical for the district to run all of its own
buses but what about 2-4 small buses for field trips and half-day transport
for Pre-K/K? In this case I suggest small buses that require
certification but not a commercial drivers’ license.
- Can I be part of a team set up to try and answer these questions and
evaluate the transportation impacts of any other changes being considered?
Diana Noble
dianainwarwick@xxxxxxxxx
------------------------------
*From:* warwicklist-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <warwicklist-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
on behalf of Tom Wyatt <tomwyattphoto@xxxxxxxxx>
*Sent:* Friday, June 15, 2018 9:54 PM
*To:* warwicklist
*Subject:* [The-L] School Committee info
The beat goes on. PVRSD budget sub-committee meeting on Tuesday June 19 @
7pm in PVRS Library. During the last meeting extensive cuts proposed by the
principals and administration were reviewed. But the committee is still
300k away from a balanced budget, which is needed by June 30.
AGENDA
I. Call to order
II. Discuss more assessment or supplemental appropriation by towns
III. Development and Giving
IV. Report on budget changes since 6/12 meeting
V. Ranking and making recommendations on further cuts and restorations
VI. Member concerns and ideas
VII. Next meeting: Tuesday, June 26, 2018 7:00 p.m. PVRS Library
VIII. Citizen’s Comments
IX. Adjourn
The school situation is not on the Agenda at Monday's Selectboard Meeting
at 6pm in the Town Hall. The draft minutes of the last meeting (attached)
detail the long discussion on schools. The coordinator's report (attached)
have a school committee report from David Young at the end.
Tom Wyatt
