[SutherlandMatters] School Budget Deadline

[Thomas Pajewski]

If you have not already done so, the deadline for voicing your opinion on
the upcoming budget is near.

In a front page article in today¹s Daily Progress (
http://www.dailyprogress.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CDP/MGArticle/CDP_Ba
sicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173350178638&path=) the budget situation was
discussed including the possibility of a reduction in the tax rate of of 6
cents per $100 assessed value. What this would mean to the school budget is
that the School Board would have to cut some $6,000,000 out of the budget.

Given that the largest item in the budget is salaries and benefits for
teachers, it would not be too difficult to predict where the cuts would have
to be made. Class size would certainly have to be an issue. Putting more
children in a classroom would require fewer teachers, but this is certainly
not something that benefits our children. I have a child in a middle school
language arts class that currently has over 30 (that¹s right, thirty)
students in his class. I don¹t see how increasing this would enhance the
educational opportunity for any of these students.

Now is the time to let the Board of Supervisors know to PLEASE  FULLY  FUND
THE  SCHOOL  BOARD'S  PROPOSED  BUDGET.

The Parent Council (which is composed of PTO representatives from all of the
county¹s schools) is asking several things of you:
 
A.   Send out the SOS message to your PTO and ask parents to email,
telephone and write the BOS in support of the School Board's proposed budget
before this Thursday, March 15th.
 
B.  Attend the BOS regularly scheduled meeting this Wednesday, March 14th.
We will have the opportunity to speak to the BOS during their regular
"public comment" period between 6-7pm on Wednesday.  We need to let the BOS
hear from us to support education funding !
 
C.  Attend the April 4th BOS public hearing in support of education funding.

 
The BOS may be contacted using the following email addresses:

BOS group email: bos at albemarle.org

and/or you can contact individual members

Ken Boyd (Chairman) kboyd at albemarle.org ­ Mr. Boyd represents the Rivanna
District including most of the families who attend Baker-Butler, Hollymead,
Sutherland, and Stony Point.
David Wyant, dwyant at albemarle.org, 434/823-5818
David Slutzky, dslutzky at albemarle.org, 434/989-5888
Sally Thomas, sthomas at albemarle.org, 434-295-1819
Dennis Rooker, dsrooker at earthlink.net, 434/977-7424
Lindsay Dorrier, riverstreet4444 at yahoo.com, 434-286-9399
 
Please take a moment to email and/or call the BOS members.

They have heard from so many citizens in support of tax cuts, that we (the
education community) really need to let them hear from us!

They need to know their tax cuts will negatively impact our students'
educational opportunities, ultimately impacting our entire community.
 
Thank you,

Tom Pajewski (tompajewski at earthlink.net)
Baker-Butler PTO President
Albemarle County Schools Parent Council Member
 
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