To the editor:
As many of you already know, our school district, like so many others, is facing difficult times financially. Recent reductions in state funding coupled with increasing costs have forced us to cut more than 40 full-time positions in the last three years. We have done this without reducing educational programs and with minimal impact on extracurricular activities for any of our students, but we are now at a crossroads.
Further cuts in state funding (which is expected), coupled with the recent passing of the 2% property tax cap, could force us to make reductions in educational programs that we currently offer or force us to cut some, or all , of the extracurricular activities, such as band and sports programs, which are currently enjoyed by a majority of our students. We are on pins and needles awaiting the state funding numbers for the 2012-13 school year. We pride ourselves on our fiscal responsibility and currently rank 645 out of the 676 school districts in New York State, in terms of how much we spend per student per year. From this information you can gather that further cuts could greatly affect the educational experience and morale of our student body.
With this in mind, we need your help. The Marcellus Central School District Board of Education would like to invite the public to a town hall meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26, in the Senior High School auditorium. The purpose of this meeting is two fold...
First of all, we would like to explain the budget process, our current fiscal situation, and the burden the 2% tax cap could place on our school district. Second, we want to hear from those who will be most directly affected by these decisions. We would like, in fact need, public input as we make these hard decisions. We, the BOE, believe that if the public is aware of the process and helps with the decision making, including offering possible solutions to these issues, then the whole community will benefit.
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