The Academy Awards of Cuts.........

Well the results are in concerning budget cuts and the suggestions were far reaching. One suggestion came from England! Most however were indeed insightful, well thought out and amazingly simple in their design. One thread was present in most of the suggestions and that was the contributors tried to make suggestions that had the least impact on the students themselves..
Out of all the replies I have selected six which received the most votes. I disregarded the suggestions that were a bit retaliatory or provided little savings. The top suggestions were:
1) Eliminate Curriculum Coordinators- This was by far the most reported area that the readers felt they could easily do without and it would not effect student achievement. One teacher wrote , “These people do nothing but e-mail us pointless articles and provide no service that we can use on a daily basis.”
2) Close a school- This suggestion had several scenarios which all had merit. They ranged from closing Glenwood or Woodrow to shutting down Galileo. A few felt also that Fresh Start, or whatever they call it now, needed to be completely overhauled, reestablished as a true alternative school, and moved to the GW campus. Woodrow was mentioned most frequently as a school to close due to location and structure limitations. I know this school has been regarded as some type of “golden child” but if the program, not the building, is so good it should be able to be moved to another location and still be just as successful. Glenwood with its dwindling student population could easily be mothballed at considerable savings. A lot of venom was directed towards Galileo. Many felt this school was given more benefits to the detriment of the districts flagship school, GW. Several people felt the facility Galileo was in was nor conducive to a school and thus the program needed to be moved to the Langston campus or even to GW so faculty could be shared giving both schools a needed boost. The renovations at Galileo would not be a waste since the city has been looking for a new location for the Bridge Street fire station and this site would fit the bill plus provide a training facility for police and fire.
3) Offer a retirement incentive. Perhaps increasing the ERIP to 25% or pay part of the health insurance would be enough to get teachers near the retirement age to take the plunge . The cost of a new teacher versus an experienced teacher in considerable salary wise. Also some of the positions may not need to be filled. For example at GW the number of classes being offered needs to be pared. The district can no longer afford the wide range of specialized classes that only have 8-10 students. Also increasing class size, while not desirable, will reduce the need to replace some positions.
4) Twelve month and eleven month teachers need to be moved back to ten month. There are to many teachers who supposedly needed twelve month contracts but that need has decreased over the years.
5) Eliminate after hours use of buildings. This is obvious however the board and the administration have been very lax in recommending or supporting any energy management issues. Reductions in heating and cooling will result in significant savings. This category alone could result in over $200,000 in savings.
6) Eliminating Preschool and Switching to Half Day Kindergarten. Preschool has its value for sure but in an age of decreasing budgets something has to go. This program is a duplication of the preschool program already offered through Community Services. Cut this out and you eliminate eight teachers, principal, support people AND take another building (Grove Park) off line for considerable savings. Half day kindergarten is the norm in most states and is prevalent in Virginia. Twice as many students could be served by one teacher. This would not only cut the kindergarten teaching staff in half it would free up some space in schools for other programs.

Well that’s the list. Many more suggestions were made but the ones listed above were mentioned more then once. Thanks to all who contributed to the list. Since the central office administration can’t seem to get their heads out of the sand long enough to come up with a plan then I guess it is up to the public to make the list. All around this area districts have already presented proposals for discussion but in Danville?.....the silence is deafening. The school board should be jumping up and down wanting proposals but look at what we have to work with there! The clueless bunch !!
Lets see if any of these make the cut.