Board support

Lawrence school board members deserve the community’s support as they try to construct a budget that matches expected resources.

Regardless of what decisions are made concerning budget cuts for the next school year, the Lawrence school board deserves the community’s support and respect for taking on this difficult job.

That respect wasn’t always apparent at Monday night’s meeting. For three hours, board members listened to dozens of district patrons who lined up to advocate for their specific interests. Their pleas were impassioned and sincere. Sometimes they were accompanied by reasoned arguments, but too often they were peppered with implied or direct insults of the elected officials who will be forced to make these difficult decisions.

As they headed home around midnight Monday, the board members probably were asking themselves how they got into this mess. The state, not the local officials, are responsible for cutbacks in school funding. The only offense school board members may have committed was being willing to run for office and help lead the community through this difficult process.

The cuts being considered by the board are not capricious. Board members and school administrators have spent long hours examining budgets and looking for possible new sources of revenue. They have listened and questioned. They don’t like the situation any more than the people who came before them to speak Monday, but the reality is that there isn’t enough money to operate the school district at the same level next year. Board members aren’t squirreling away money; they are trying to cover the bills.

In general, their priorities are correct. They are trying to preserve some money to increase teacher salaries next year. There is no more important component to public education than preserving a dedicated, talented teaching staff. Without proper salary increases, the quality of that staff is likely to erode.

That means the board must look elsewhere for cuts. It’s true that many of the places they are looking are programs all-day kindergarten, school nurses and the WRAP counseling program, for instance that contribute greatly to the service provided to school children and their parents. But the board’s goal is to preserve the district’s educational core, the central mission of the district to provide a basic education for its students.

In some cases, parents are volunteering to raise funds to preserve certain programs, including athletics. That’s a wonderful show of support for our schools, but it’s difficult to build a budget on the pledges of parents. And what about schools where parents may not have the time or resources to offer such assistance? Will those children lose out?

The board was scheduled to meet again Tuesday to continue its discussions, but the process of preparing for the almost-inevitable budget cuts probably will stretch out for some time. In the meantime, if local residents want to channel their anger about this situation to the real culprits, they should contact state lawmakers, who are in a far better position to alter this course of events.

It’s clear that Lawrence school board members are not making these decisions lightly. They have undertaken a thoughtful process to try to deal with a difficult situation. They will make the best decisions they can for Lawrence schools and they deserve both our respect and our courtesy.