None of the options currently being weighed by the school board are viable options, because every option will result in catastrophic effects on this community. Furloughing underpaid teachers is unacceptable, particularly coupled with the increase in insurance the teachers have been forced to bear. Closing the smaller schools is unacceptable, as the number of students per teacher has already increased since the supervisors first slashed the school budget in the spring. Lengthening the school day and moving to a four day week is unacceptable for myriad reasons, including the fact that a good number of students rely on free and reduced breakfast and lunch, every day, for their nourishment. Eliminating transportation for students is unacceptable, because those who need to be at school the most will have the hardest time getting there.
The supervisors’ continued failure to fund the schools demonstrates a complete lack of commitment to the children in this county and to their sound educational futures. Please hear me loudly and clearly: your actions are unconscionable. You do not represent the majority of the individuals who elected you into the office you now hold. You have made, and are continuing to make, the most egregious budgetary and financial errors.
Yet you, the Board of Supervisors, again have the opportunity to do the right thing. You have the opportunity to approve additional funding for the 2012-13 school year and avoid creating even more crippling effects on our students and staff.
Nothing is more important than your provision of $308,000 for the sustainability of our schools.
