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Cumberland Valley crunches the numbers |
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Key educational programs and classroom resources are in danger of being cut to balance the school district’s budget for the upcoming year.
By
JOVON HILL |
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MIDDLETOWN, Pa. - The Cumberland Valley School district is in the midst of a budget crisis. The 7,600-student district is facing a deficit of $4.2 million and must make some difficult, but necessary changes to its budget. Superintendent, B. Jean Walker, must make the critical decisions regarding the weakened budget. The district is comprised of one high school, two middle schools, and seven elementary schools. The schools at the elementary level will be affected most by the deficit in the district’s budget. Harold Pomraning, the districts assistant superintendent for elementary education, said that the district administration is looking at eliminating or reducing many support services at the elementary level. Programs that are to be affected by the changes in the budget include reducing the number of assistants in the classrooms and raising the number of students when an assistant is required from 22 to 25. The district is eliminating one of the two full-time teaching positions in the third grade special education program, reducing the staff to one full-time and one part-time. The guidelines for assigning aides to the special education teachers will also be under alteration. Study hall monitors will be reduced along with the realignment of secretarial assignments. Changes in the job descriptions of elementary classroom, cafeteria, recess, building and safety aides will be altered and re-titled, “building aides” allowing the principals flexibility in assignments. Deborah Diller, principal of Hampden Elementary, one of the affected schools, said that she is excited about some of the new flexibility she and other principals will have in assigning aides to assist throughout the entire building, but is upset that some of the aides will be forced to leave at the beginning of next school year. “The help of aides allows the teachers more time to plan and stick to the curriculum that the district has outlined for them. Teachers are able to take their prep periods without interruption and attend training that updates their teaching skills, no matter what their assignment, aides play and integral part in keeping our school running smoothly.” Elementary school teachers in the district are also upset that they will be short of help next school year. Third grade teacher Deborah Stum, of Green Ridge Elementary, said that she depends and relies on the help of her classroom assistant, “I hope that my class next year meets the criteria to receive a classroom assistant because it is extremely tasking to be the only adult in a room of 22 third-graders. The extra adult presence makes it much easier to effectively communicate the lesson to the students.” Thomas Schaffstall, another third grade teacher at Hampden Elementary, echoes the sentiments of Stum. “The extra adult presence is vital to me getting the purpose of my lesson across to the students. The third grade is vital year in the life of an elementary school student. Third grade is the year that many state mandated exams are given to measure the progress of the students, and oftentimes it is the classroom aide that allows the extra time to properly prepare the students for the exams.” Dick Smith, principal of Green Ridge Elementary, is concerned with school safety issues. The principal as of July 1, 2004 will be able to assign all assistants in the building to the job of their choosing, including security. Some of the jobs to be cut includes those whose job it is to secure the building, “Many of the assistants in my building are used to and/or trained to effectively function in one area of school life, but as of July 1, 2004, I will be forced to reassign those spared by the budget cuts to more than one job within the school.” Although the elementary school level will be affected the most, some middle school sports and extra-curricular activities will be cut. The basketball teams at several middle schools may be the next thing on the chopping board. Michael Willis, Director of Business and Support Services said, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” At the time of this story statewide budget hearings were being held in Harrisburg and Governor Rendell has proposed his education budget for next school year. Maybe Cumberland Valley School District will see an increase in their budget and avert a deficit. All stories in this magazine are the intellectual property of the individual authors. You may email comments about this story to: jlh527@psu.edu
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