AUBURN - Andrea Cosachov wanted to know what the Auburn Enlarged City School District would do if drastic cuts to state aid would force the district to slash arts and music from school buildings.
Chet Susslin / The Citizen
Auburn Enlarged City School District Board of Education President Charlie Cator welcomes the crowd to an open forum where members of the community were encouraged to ask the board questions.
Auburn Enlarged City School District Board of Education President Charlie Cator welcomes the crowd to an open forum where members of the community were encouraged to ask the board questions.
Lonnie Love longed to understand what the district is tangibly doing to help struggling children who are often overlooked by the state and federal government.
More than a dozen people came to the Auburn High School library Wednesday to participate in an open forum hosted by the board of education as a means to open the lines of communication and create a free-flowing dialogue between the district and the community.
From budget cuts to increasing parental involvement in education, community members questioned their elected officials and the district leadership about what the district is doing for its students and preparing for the future.
Just a day after Gov. David Paterson warned that reductions to school aid - both mid-year and for next year - are on the table as a means to deal with the state's dire fiscal situation, Jeremy Hergert, of Auburn, asked how that could impact the district.
If Paterson's proposal is approved by both the state Senate and Assembly, Superintendent J.D. Pabis said Auburn would lose $1.3 million from this year's budget.
Operating under a contingency budget, Pabis said cuts to programming, staff and co-curriculars have already been made.
“Moving forward ... the board will have to make some hard decisions,” he said. “Do we want to cut extra-curriculars? Do we want to cut programs that affect children? Do we want to not have a summer school, or do we want to increase class size? These are things we've already began to work internally on and we have had dialogue with the board.”
Board member Ginny Kent does not want any cuts in arts or music. She said the district suffered in the 1990s when then Gov. Mario Cuomo cut school aid, and wouldn't want that to happen again.
“I wouldn't want to be on a board that did that,” she said.
Board member David Lansford weighed in, saying the district and community are both in this situation together.
“I would hope these sessions with the community bring out that sense that we are very concerned about the challenges that we face and I would like to see the community share those concerns and realize that we all have a responsibility and ownership to our schools,” he said.
Cynthia Richardson, of Auburn, a retired district teacher, questioned the panel about No Child Left Behind and all the unfunded federal and state mandates that come with it.
Pabis said the district is trying to fund as many unfunded mandates as possible, with local organizations such as Partnership for Results and federal grants from the 21st Century Community Learning Center.
Lansford, who represents Auburn at the Central New York School Board Association, said from what he understands, NCLB, President Bush's education reform, will not be disappearing under the new federal leadership.
“There's a general sense ... that NCLB was well-intentioned and its purpose will remain,” he said. “But there is a sense that it needs to be modified.”
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net
More than a dozen people came to the Auburn High School library Wednesday to participate in an open forum hosted by the board of education as a means to open the lines of communication and create a free-flowing dialogue between the district and the community.
From budget cuts to increasing parental involvement in education, community members questioned their elected officials and the district leadership about what the district is doing for its students and preparing for the future.
Just a day after Gov. David Paterson warned that reductions to school aid - both mid-year and for next year - are on the table as a means to deal with the state's dire fiscal situation, Jeremy Hergert, of Auburn, asked how that could impact the district.
If Paterson's proposal is approved by both the state Senate and Assembly, Superintendent J.D. Pabis said Auburn would lose $1.3 million from this year's budget.
Operating under a contingency budget, Pabis said cuts to programming, staff and co-curriculars have already been made.
“Moving forward ... the board will have to make some hard decisions,” he said. “Do we want to cut extra-curriculars? Do we want to cut programs that affect children? Do we want to not have a summer school, or do we want to increase class size? These are things we've already began to work internally on and we have had dialogue with the board.”
Board member Ginny Kent does not want any cuts in arts or music. She said the district suffered in the 1990s when then Gov. Mario Cuomo cut school aid, and wouldn't want that to happen again.
“I wouldn't want to be on a board that did that,” she said.
Board member David Lansford weighed in, saying the district and community are both in this situation together.
“I would hope these sessions with the community bring out that sense that we are very concerned about the challenges that we face and I would like to see the community share those concerns and realize that we all have a responsibility and ownership to our schools,” he said.
Cynthia Richardson, of Auburn, a retired district teacher, questioned the panel about No Child Left Behind and all the unfunded federal and state mandates that come with it.
Pabis said the district is trying to fund as many unfunded mandates as possible, with local organizations such as Partnership for Results and federal grants from the 21st Century Community Learning Center.
Lansford, who represents Auburn at the Central New York School Board Association, said from what he understands, NCLB, President Bush's education reform, will not be disappearing under the new federal leadership.
“There's a general sense ... that NCLB was well-intentioned and its purpose will remain,” he said. “But there is a sense that it needs to be modified.”
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net
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mamimbe wrote on Nov 13, 2008 4:44 PM:
ranger walker wrote on Nov 13, 2008 8:25 AM: