By: Maha Haider
On January 9th, Superintendent Geiser shared news regarding budget cut plans for the upcoming school years in various override scenarios. The superintendent shared her budget objectives, which consist of maintaining a well-rounded education. To reach this goal, there would need to be continued rigorous academics, strong performing arts, and a large volume of participation in the athletic departments. Additionally, the continuation of extra-curricular and community service activities, which are a big part of student life at BHS. In addition, responding to identified gaps in curricular and instructional programming across all areas of academic, social-emotional, and behavioral - and developing a system that responds to those gaps with the aim of providing a high-quality educational experience for all students.
For the fiscal year 2025, the possible reductions may include extracurricular activities, specifically: freshman athletics, ski team, and clubs. Eliminating freshman athletics and the ski program, which totals $131,400 in cuts, limits opportunities for students to develop non-academic interests and talents, which are essential to students' experiences in school. As for staffing, the possible reductions may include seasonal staff, leadership/administrative staff, clerical, and support staff, 4.0 FTE secondary teachers, and 3.0 FTE upper elementary teachers. Eliminating funding for professional development, totalling $90,638 in reductions, restricts the district’s ability to provide high-quality professional development, which limits the district's support for teachers to strengthen instructional quality for students. Transportation may be limited by $314,413, this will decrease access to transportation which will be an additional hardship for families, particularly those who rely on transportation to transport their children to school everyday.
If the override fails to pass, it will impact students, by leaving them vulnerable and significantly impacted by the lack of resources. Additionally, educators will be deprived of professional development, and inability to provide high quality learning experiences for their students.
Image courtesy of Maha Haider.