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It probably comes as no surprise that the Chariho School District budget was adopted on Tuesday night. The budget stays within the cost of inflation – with a 2.16% increase for Charlestown, a 2.83% increase for Richmond, 2.4% for Hopkinton, while devoting significant resources to rehabilitating the high school.
And with the adoption of the new health care plan, the budget was even cut $131,000.
Now we know this is a drop in the proverbial bucket and the giant elephant in the room, is still teacher’s retirement plans and health benefits.
Currently, the teachers are paying 20% of their health insurance costs or $520 per year. And while this is certainly an improvement, it’s not enough.
We see a financial crisis looming if these costs are not reined in soon. And with impending reductions in state aid, we don’t see any hope on the horizon. There’s no other choice.
On the flip side, we like the superintendent’s message for fiscal year 2009 – “Meeting the needs of highly capable students.”
For too long, highly capable students have gotten the short end of the stick – in terms of resources. Students with IEPs and those requiring additional therapeutic intervention, are the beneficiaries of more financial resources than those highly capable or even average students. We certainly don’t think that’s fair and realize much of this inequity is driven by Federal mandates such as No Child Left Behind.
Is it fair to have a teacher leave the room to attend IEP meetings with speech therapists and the like, while the majority of the class is left in the hands of an assistant or substitute? We think not and have observed this scenario in area public schools.
We applaud the Chariho School Committee and adminstration for trying to right this inequity and provide additional challenges for those highly capable students. They deserve it.
Additional staff will be added at the middle school for the highly capable program and for new courses at the high school such as Chinese I and advance placement economics.
With these additions, there is a net decrease in four certified positions in the budget.
And that’s going to have to start happening in all Rhode Island towns and schools – layoffs and budget cuts. Personnel costs will have to be reduced significantly in coming years or the whole state is headed for bankruptcy in the next generation.
There’s simply no other choice. Get out and get involved in your town’s budget process and the school budget next year. We know it’s not always the most exciting information but without a citizen system of checks and balances, we fear for the worst.
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