Dr. David Hopson
I appreciate the patience and understanding of so many parents and caretakers as we fine-tune the busing issues that seem to occur at the beginning of every school year—but especially when bus routes are revised due to a major change in the district. You can well imagine the potential for chaos with the middle school moving to the elementary schedule this year. The fact that so much went right despite the major changes reflects the excellent work done by Gateway’s transportation coordinator, Carol Pellerin, and the busing company’s point person, Penny Gates. This positive working relationship is evident throughout the year in dealing with delays, early releases, snow days, emergency planning, and a host of other activities. This has also resulted in adjustments that have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past several years by merging and changing bus runs, one of the ways we’ve been able to reduce the budget by nearly $1.5 million in recent years without laying off teaching staff.
It’s hard to believe the district is already beginning to work on the Fiscal Year 2014 budget while putting into effect the budget for the current year and auditing the prior year’s budget. This time of the year is interesting as we find ourselves discussing three year’s worth of budgets at any given point in the day. It also shows the difficulty faced by all public entities as they work to put together a budget for the following year prior to many unknowns in the current year (i.e., accommodating last year’s unanticipated October blizzard, having no water from the well, and the always uncertain aspects of state and federal financial support). As we move through this fall, the national elections will certainly be on everyone’s minds but soon after the election is completed, the current Congress must address the budget and reach some sort of agreement to avoid sequestration—the automatic across- the-board cuts that were agreed to if a budget compromise cannot be reached. Of course, both the election and Congressional action on this issue will potentially impact financial support for both our towns and the district and will occur during the initial preparation of the FY’14 budget, a recipe for distress and worry that could go on for a significant amount of time.
Despite all of this, students come to school, interact with staff, participate in classes, complete assignments, acquire knowledge and skills, and demonstrate proficiency much as they have for decades. While some of the particulars have changed—as with the use of electronic devices such as iPads, laptops, and Chromebooks—most of us still recognize that the three ‘R’s are being taught. As we continue to move forward with updating the curriculum to the required national standards, incorporating 21st Century Skills into daily activities and conducting student assessments to meet the demands of the workforce, while attempting to meet new regulations related to things as diverse as serving healthy meals, checking obesity levels, offering health education, and timing responses to emergency planning activities, I often wonder how all of these became the responsibility of the schools.
Somehow we’re meeting these various demands and requirements despite having no additional time in the school day or school year while accommodating a knowledge and skills base that continues to expand exponentially (just think of the changes in technology skills and knowledge since most parents were in school). For those who follow educational news, you know that the idea of expanded learning time continues to be discussed across the Commonwealth and across the United States, as is the need to expand accountability for student learning, health, citizenship and a range of other areas. The question often asked (but never answered) is, what is the core responsibility of the schools, what should parents be responsible for, and what should the ‘state’ provide in a time of increasing demands and decreasing resources?
