Brother Can You Spare A Dime?
by Eric Gustaffson | CURTIS LOG | Curtis High School
The recession that is currently facing the citizens of the United States has already affected many different areas of the population, and now Curtis has begun to feel its effects as well. The city’s public schools, have been beset with large and unexpected cuts.
Mr. Pete Devlin, the Assistant Principal of Organization, said, "Last year was the first year in my 11 years doing this job that money was taken out of the school budget during the year." The same thing happened this year, $282,000 was cut from the budget in September, a cut equal to three or four teacher’s salaries.
This year does not mark the end of such cuts. According to Mr. Devlin, the school has been told to anticipate a staggering $800,000 cut next September.
With these major budget cuts taking place, the average Curtis student can anticipate some changes around the school. Mr. Devlin said, "Class sizes will be impacted. The average English or Math class now is about 23 or 25 students, but now it could go up to 34 students." Full to capacity classes are something that just about everyone in the school would like to avoid.
Mr. Devlin continued to say that results from cuts might include "less support staff, less supplies, and possibly even losing teaching positions." None of these are things that are encouraging signs for Curtis students.
So what can students and teachers do to help the school deal with the major budget cuts? According to Mr. Devlin, "We are trying to make the school more paperless." Students and teachers are encouraged to make double-sided copies when possible and to conserve paper when they can. Also students can take care of supplies and ensure that they aren’t wasting the school’s money by losing them. But one of the most important things that a student can do is fill in lunch forms.
Mr. Devlin said, "We were barely making our budget; we get $1.2 million in Title I funds, a number calculated from lunch forms." Title I funds are federal funds for schools with high poverty levels, besides allowing 48% of students who qualify for free lunch get it, the forms are also used to calculate the Title 1 funds for the school. |
