happy_go_lucky 3 years, 3 months ago

No I am not, the 5 million dollar cuts we made will just be the begining, come next year there will be more. Schools will be cut then. Like Morgan said, he would have liked to cut 8 million now, to make next year easier.

And we need to cut nurses, they always make a big noise when cuts come about how much they do in schools. They even said this time that when the counselors are too busy they help counsel kids... What training do they have to even BEGIN to do such a task? Counseling requires years of training and practice, something nurses have no ability to do.

Additionally anyone see the "head of the nurses" talk at the budget meeting, and show how stuck up she is? She threw nurses assistants under the bus to further her own cause. And my personal statement, maybe instead of cutting nurses, why not get rid of her position? The head of the nurses actually has no nursing job, she does nothing but "organize the nurses" I'm sure another administrator is more qualified in doing that.

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NewYorkLilly 3 years, 3 months ago

Happy go lucky is ill informed. The school nurses in no way feel they can replace the counselors. Though mental health is an area that is included in the curriculum for nurses who hold a Bachelors Degree of Science in Nursing the type of counseling the school nurses do with students is typically on health issues . Very different from what the school counselors do. As for the statements regarding the Nurse Facilitator they are reallly just too juvenile and ignorant to address any further.

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kidscount 3 years, 3 months ago

Totally amazing to me how Cordley, Wakarussa, New york parents all had a say so in the closing of their school but Kennedy parents have NOOOO say in what happens to Cramming more kids into a school that already doesnt have enough space to accomodate the students needs. It doesnt make since to keep LOW populated schools open another year when they are going to have to probably close them anyway in another year. AND, getting rid of early childhood programs are STUPID! The children that attend these programs come from low income families and cant afford other preschool centers, therefore, these kiddos are starting their education at a major disadvantage. Sickening!!!!

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edson443 3 years, 3 months ago

It will be less than a year before the option of closing schools is back on the table. It may be with in a month if the state doesn't come through with the money they said they might give the school district. The Save Our Schools victory will be short lived.

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distant_voice 3 years, 3 months ago

And if the State comes through with more money, where do they get it? Should the people in some other city in Kansas pay for education in Lawrence? Like government services, Americans want all the public education someone else can pay for. In the end, it all comes back to roost on us. If we want our city, state, and federal governments to do more for us, then we either reach deeper into our own pockets or do what the U.S. Government does and borrow from China. As the financial crisis has taught us: no one ever has to pay back a loan. Right?

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toe 3 years, 3 months ago

Good work. There was always room for improved spending. The school board gets smarter when funds get short.

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Did_I_say_that 3 years, 3 months ago

kidscount (anonymous) says… "Totally amazing to me how Cordley, Wakarussa, New york parents all had a say so in the closing of their school but Kennedy parents have NOOOO say in what happens to Cramming more kids into a school that already doesnt have enough space to accomodate the students needs."

I must have missed the sign that said, "No Kennedy Parents Allowed". SONS and Wakarusa both made efforts to involve all schools. Both groups beat the drum that this was a community problem. It was said time and again that all schools would be affected since the student-teacher ratio was a part of either scenario. Closing East Heights was on the table for three weeks. Anyone looking at a map could tell what the two possibilities were if EH actually closed.

"It doesnt make since to keep LOW populated schools open another year when they are going to have to probably close them anyway..."

Low population is primarily a boundary issue. Moreover, it is a boundary issue that was created by the building of big box schools. The reason another year was fought for was to allow for a reasoned decision, rather than one of crisis management. More important, the Board was in violation of its own policy which states that there must be a facilities study completed before a recommendation of school closings can be made.

"AND, getting rid of early childhood programs are stupid!" Yes, it would be if it were true. However, if you read your own first sentence you would see that the program is going to be moved.

If the school budget crisis, closing schools, and budget remedies were important issues to you, then you should have been involved. In fact, with all of the News Articles, Letters to the Editor, and blogs that are online on this site, you could have been active in this one area alone. You were not; this is your first posting on this subject.

It is still not too late to get involved. However, if you don't want to just spin your wheels for several weeks, then hook-up with one of the groups that have been at it for a while.

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