As the 2010-11 school year begins, I would like to welcome back all of our students and staff with a bit of good news. This will be the third year in a row that our district has attained an “Excellent” school district report card from the Ohio Department of Education. It is the first time that Tri-Valley has achieved a perfect state report card. Congratulations to our students, staff, and parents!
This achievement is especially notable when considering the tenuous financial environment for public school districts and the state economy as a whole. Tri-Valley has reduced annual expenditures by approximately $2,000,000 since the end of the 2008-09 school year.
A recent article in the Washington Post discussed the effects of the economy on state and local governments and specifically mentioned public schools and the recently passed stimulus to save public education jobs.
“The prospect of layoffs or tax increases by state officials who are almost uniformly required to balance their budgets remains a major worry. The package approved Tuesday represents less than a quarter of the $116 billion shortfall that states face over the next two years, according to the National Governors Association. "This isn't plugging the hole. This is helping to transition," said David Quam, NGA director of federal relations.
Schools have been particularly hard hit. With the start of school just a few weeks away, class sizes have been on the rise across the country, school bus routes have been cut and a plethora of programs, including summer school, arts, physical education, and health and counseling services, have been slashed. Some school systems even trimmed the length of the school year to make ends meet. As of this month, it remained unclear exactly how many workers had been let go.
This excerpt specifically mentions some of the exact measures that Tri-Valley has taken to reduce expenditures. Indeed, our class sizes have gotten larger and summer school and counseling services have been greatly reduced. Additionally, our teachers and administrative personnel have agreed to a salary freeze for the upcoming school year.
In spite of all of these reductions, the school district has improved in all academic areas and achieved our first perfect state report card! 8/20/2010
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