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if these personnel cuts were made. ............
Maximizing financial resources and
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minimizing the impact on students w as
the challenge facing the school board. It
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w as a difficult decision to let two teachers
ask me
go and consolidate the principals and the
A P ersonal P erspective by Janet H anson
T he tim e lim it to apply for the last
budget com m ittee position expired and
had to be extended because no one
applied. T he last school board position
needing to be filled m id term had but one
applicant.T he com m -unity seating
available at the m onthly school board
m eetings is taken by district em ployees,
students and budget com m ittee m em bers
for the m ost part. A nd yet w hen the
school board acted in a prudent and
tim ely m anner on a critical financial
situation w ith ram ifications that m ight
have included a tem porary closure of
D istrict 91, som e in the com m unity
reacted w ith threats and outrage and few
substantial alternatives.
T his school district is facing a potential
deficit of over $150,000 for the school year
2002-2003 w ith no guarantees w e w ill
even receive the balance ow ed for this
school year. T his shortfall is due to the
serious financial delem m a the S tate of
O regon is in. 80% of this district
expenditures are for personnel. It is
reasonable therefore to expect personnel
cuts to help m eet this substantial sum .
Judicious action involves m aking
advance plans in a tim ely m anner for a
case scenerio w ith hopes that such actions
will not becom e necessary. U nlike the w ay
m any m anage their personal funds by
using a credit card w hen cash is in short
supply, school districts are not allow ed to
superintendent positions into one.
However, we entrusted the management
of this school district to these elected
volunteers. Their decisions were based on
historic data, current financial project
ions and confidential information not
available to the public. If these cuts are
not sufficient to cover the projected
shortfall, the board w as presented w ith
several suggestions in the 2 1/2 hour long
open public forum . Proposals included a
pay to play policy, salary freezes, aband
onm ent of district offices, volunteer
coaches, com m unity involvem ent in
classroom s and private donations.
A ll of these suggestions m ay becom e
necessary. T he underlying them e of
the evening w as that consolidating w ith
School D istrict 9 w as not an option. In
light of this, a com m ittee m ay be form ed
in the com m unity to organize ideas into
logical propositions for the board to
further consider. 3/4 of the com m unity
present unfortunately left before the start
of the regular board m eeting. Included in
that m eeting w as an update on all the
H igh School clubs and activities, a thank
you to the E arl F oundation for the
adjustable basket hoops in the elem en
tary gym , a notice of Y -ball gam es in
B utte Falls and the great new s that our
FB L A students, as a school, placed first
at the district com petition w ith 16 out of
24 students qualifying for individual state
com petition this year. T ruly a rem arkable
feat considering the large schools w e
com peted against. I can ’ t im agine
another place our students could excel in
such a positive w ay. B e sure to take the
opportunity to congratulate these future
business leaders!
M im i-
run in the red.
O ver 75 people attended the F ebruary
school boards special public session to
voice their com m ents and concerns on
this financial situation. M any threatened
to rem ove their children from D istrict 91
Your expression of
anb acts of kinbness w ill
alw ays be rem em bered.
T he
o f M im i Lw tz
T h a n k y o u , Aden R a g s d a le tor
y o u r donation o f tim e w o rk ir o
a n a re p a irin g a t th e S m ith H o u s e .
W e appreciate you....
_
B u d g e tin g M a d e E a s y
H o w to m a n a g e y o u r m o n e y a n d im p ro v e y o u r
llife .
You ’ ll learn how to:
Set fin a n c ia l g o a ls , o r g a n iz e y o u r m o n e y , ta k e
the stress out o f b ill paying, set-up a
w orkable spending plan (budget), m ake a
personal budget book, learn w ays to save
w hen it seem s im possible.
This class is sponsored by the C onsum er
C redit C ounseling S ervice of S outhern
O regon.
This class cost $20.00 for the book m aterial, If
you can not afford to pay, please com e
anyw ay and learn the process and create a
budget for yourself. The class w ill be held at
the C om m unity H all on Thursday, M arch 21,
2002 at 7:00 P.M .
Please cal! L o ri P axton to pre-register at
865-3262/865-3624.
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that we
have Royalty tn Butte
Falk?
F ear B lossom P rincess
S tacu S m ith
invites vpu to com e sh o w
^o u r support at
the P ear B lossom P ag en to .
W h ile she is representing
B utte F alls H igh S chool
S atu rd ay, M arch
at the C raterian
Please c& ll ber for m ore
inform ation 86^-3369