Please note that the Cherry Hill Board of Education has added an extra budget work session on Monday, March 30 to discuss the proposed 2009-2010 budget. The meeting will be held at the Malberg Administration Building and will begin at 7 pm.
Many parents have emailed me to ask about the agenda for this meeting and if there will be an opportunity for public comment.
I have communicated with our Board of Education President, Mrs. Giaccio about this meeting. Mrs. Giaccio said, "The primary goal on Monday is to ensure that all questions raised by Board members and community members to date are addressed by administration."
The agenda will be that of a budget work session. They will begin with an update from administration followed by Board members questions to clarify that update. They will then open for public comment on the budget.
Following that, the Board will, if time permits, discuss where they stand on the budget proposals in preparation for Wednesday's public hearing and adoption.
It is entirely possible that the Board of Education may have been under the impression that the reductions and eliminations to Special Education were very benign. Parents have been asking questions and pointing out that the proposed reductions and eliminations will create inequity and may very well subject our school district to substantial legal fees for not providing the mandated education that our children are guaranteed by law.
Upon learning from parents that these proposed cuts would have such a negative impact on the education that our children receive, I think the Board of Education is acting very responsibly by allowing extra time for public discussion on these matters.
I have received emails from many township residents saying that they will be at Monday's meeting to support our children. While some have indicated that they are not comfortable with public speaking, they have offered to be there to show their support. As the parent of a child with special education requirements, I have to say THANK YOU to everyone that is standing up to support the 2,000 special needs children in our school district. Many of the people that emailed me do not have children with special education needs. It seems that families in Cherry Hill are coming together to support each other and this can only lead to a great outcome for ALL of our children.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Cherry Hill Adds Extra Budget Work Session
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10 comments:
Yes. We need support to protect our students from this administration and its board members.
It is simply not ok to keep Mt. Misery and Late Busses in their current form and cut special ed teachers at the high school.
Thank you again Kathy for posting this very important meeting!
"It is entirely possible that the Board of Education may have been under the impression that the reductions and eliminations to Special Education were very benign."
That is probably do to the usual bull from the Special Ed Department. I heard about the lies parents were told at the recent septa meeting. So glad I was not there! These cutbacks are beneficial for disabled kids? Come on! How can anyone trust a person that authorizes harsh treatment to children like throwing them in a padded cell or physically restraining them? Compared to that maybe eliminating a service may be "benign."
Clean house and start fresh, but do not take services from kids that NEED them!!
OK, admin gets to re-spin their answers -- like the spin put on eliminating SE teachers from a coteaching class(did they really think this was a good thing!)or the non-answers they give about related services that are denied to kids, or Franklin twists words around like assistant and assistance and claims we are compliant w/IEPs. And the BOE sits there nodding and acting as if these are great answers. "Yeah, Go Team Admin!"
When is the BOE going to wake up and see this for what it is. Kathi, no offense but do you realize that the BOE does not care about our SE kids? If they did they would not accept the BS answers that admiistrators give. They are not answers, they barely qualify as excuses!
I can see the BOE coming out with something like this: The board Prez will repeat her usual line about a gap in state funding formulas, followed by some other board person saying once we get our IDEA funding we can provide for your kids. We promise it will be at the top of our list.
Yeah, right under late buses, Mt. Miserable, administrative salaries, a bonus for a few do-nothings...
I will go to the meeting. I will voice my concerns. I will anticipate the usual nothingness that follows and then I will vote against the budget on election day. After my son's IEP meeting, I will file for due process and make them provide his education.If they are going to ignore us at meetings they can deal with us in court!
Signed,
Dad that has his Irish up!
Irish Dad-
Kathi gets it. She is not wearing blinders. She knows our BOE has a history of not supporting special ed. Don't smack the messenger, she is just trying to help us out!
Mt. Miserable? Great title! Sounds like you had a child that went there. My son hated it too!
TL
I couldn't get to the meeting. Can someone please update how the meeting went.
It seemed to be going great with the board of ed being very sympathetic to the every-other-day education at the high school level for science and humanities. However, a number of causes had the sympathy including PYP, the Student Advocate position and the In-School Support program for the high schools.
The BOE took a vote on a .5% tax levy to save all programs. That failed 8 to 1.
They then went through and selected the items that they wanted to save the most. PYP coordinators got added back in at the expense of one night at Mt. Misery.
Next the Student Advocate regained support at the expense of a small hit to athletics. (I think it was about 3%)
Special education concerns did not make the list of items to add back.
The board asked for input from administration on the special education matter at the high school. Jim Gallagher answered (not verbatim) that they could have done this without putting it down as a budget cut and no one would have been the wiser. However, they wanted to be transparent. Also he added that they were going to do it whether there was a budgetary need or not.
That shows the way special education is viewed by this administration. They continually cutback programs and supports to the children that require them. Who stands to gain? Not the taxpayer, for there will be more costly out-of-district placements as a result. The children don't gain in this either. Who gains? The administrators because we can afford their high priced salaaries if we chop more out of special ed.
What administrator is going to follow the Mayor's lead and take a 10% salary reduction? None of them!
Special Education is mandated. Does anyone get that?
Just a quick note about Wednesday's Board of Ed Meeting:
On Monday, a sign up sheet was used. If you wanted to speak, you had to put your name on the list. Unfortunately, I got there about 7:20 and did not know about this list until they began calling names! I heard from several other parents that did not speak for the same reason.
Please assume that the Board of Ed will do this on Wednesday night. If you want to speak, get there before 7:15 and put your name on the list!
Kathi Magee
Name on a list? What!!!
When did the rules change? When was the public notified of this? What is going on!!!!
They just lost my vote!
Due Process here we come.
Does anyone read the board agendas?
The upcoming meeting 5/12 has some doozies.
I applaud Rosa and their character education initiative. Excuse me though, why are we spending approx. 2000.00 for more character training for two people!
Sorry. Administration and clearly our board members are not getting the message - business as usual has to stop.
It was a miracle that the budget passed. It maintains. Nothing is going to change next year in terms of funding and this kind of spending really needs to be reigned in.
I know the argument is the budget passed with the dollar amount agreed to spending. Well, the teachers contract has not be signed yet - how exactly do we know if the money will cover this?
This is 2000.000 that is being thrown out the window.
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