POPLAR RIDGE - Faced with cuts in state aid for next year, the Southern Cayuga School Board discussed possible options and strategies for coping with the loss and still maintaining quality education.
Moving from a budget with $8,021,275 in state aid for the 2008-2009 school year to an estimated figure of $7,613,508, a loss of 5.08 percent, the board began with Superintendent Mary Kay Worth's report, designed to address the need to decrease the current school budget in light of a possible 4 percent increase in property taxes.
If there is no increase in property taxes, the carry-forward budget would have to be reduced by $800,000, Worth said.
“We've got to look hard and prioritize what we are required to do,” Worth said. “This may be the year to get a sense of where we truly are as a community.”
Dr. Paul Seversky, hired by the board to conduct indepth research and project future enrollment to facilitate the district's long-range planning, is due to complete a draft of his findings by Jan. 2 with numbers available for the Jan. 14 long-range plan meeting.
Worth listed the range of students expected to be in classes at each level in the district: K-3, 15-21; grades 4-6, 18-24; grades 7-12, 18-28.
Classes with students taking college electives will have to have a minimum of 15 students to be offered.
She said in the past, if classes with a minimum of 12 students were offered, they could sometimes drop to as few as six, if students dropped the course.
If a couple of grade levels have total enrollments in the lower 50s, the district is looking to split them into two sections instead of three, so, for example if there were only 48 students in a grade, it would have two sections of 24 students instead of three sections of 16.
The possibility of offering distance learning classes was discussed. Worth said in order to be successful, the content of a distance learning course has to be special and unique so that another district would be interested in buying into the program.
She mentioned a distance learning math course Southern Cayuga students took in the past.
“Our kids were ready to go and willing to move faster and they were frustrated,” she said.
Both schools' students were too far apart in preparation, so Southern Cayuga pulled out of the program.
“There are certain curricula that we are never going to be able to replace without a classroom teacher,” Worth said.
In other news:
* Alan Ominsky, planetarium director, reported his amazement at the success of the planetarium program. He said the numbers were growing and he even had two shows where he had to turn 20 or so people away, but he offered a second show if they returned, and they did.
He also noted the programming was unusual for a planetarium and noted his cooperative learning set up with teachers - a class on stellar evolution and a NASA program designed for fifth and sixth graders on the universe.
* The board voted unanimously to accept the resignation of Jill Dugan, part-time typist in the bus garage but decided to evaluate the position to determine if the position is necessary or if it can be done differently by the next board meeting.
* It also voted to appoint volunteer athletic assistants: Diesel Hitt, Jeremy Dunn, Casey Underwood and Jim Mahaney.
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
If there is no increase in property taxes, the carry-forward budget would have to be reduced by $800,000, Worth said.
“We've got to look hard and prioritize what we are required to do,” Worth said. “This may be the year to get a sense of where we truly are as a community.”
Dr. Paul Seversky, hired by the board to conduct indepth research and project future enrollment to facilitate the district's long-range planning, is due to complete a draft of his findings by Jan. 2 with numbers available for the Jan. 14 long-range plan meeting.
Worth listed the range of students expected to be in classes at each level in the district: K-3, 15-21; grades 4-6, 18-24; grades 7-12, 18-28.
Classes with students taking college electives will have to have a minimum of 15 students to be offered.
She said in the past, if classes with a minimum of 12 students were offered, they could sometimes drop to as few as six, if students dropped the course.
If a couple of grade levels have total enrollments in the lower 50s, the district is looking to split them into two sections instead of three, so, for example if there were only 48 students in a grade, it would have two sections of 24 students instead of three sections of 16.
The possibility of offering distance learning classes was discussed. Worth said in order to be successful, the content of a distance learning course has to be special and unique so that another district would be interested in buying into the program.
She mentioned a distance learning math course Southern Cayuga students took in the past.
“Our kids were ready to go and willing to move faster and they were frustrated,” she said.
Both schools' students were too far apart in preparation, so Southern Cayuga pulled out of the program.
“There are certain curricula that we are never going to be able to replace without a classroom teacher,” Worth said.
In other news:
* Alan Ominsky, planetarium director, reported his amazement at the success of the planetarium program. He said the numbers were growing and he even had two shows where he had to turn 20 or so people away, but he offered a second show if they returned, and they did.
He also noted the programming was unusual for a planetarium and noted his cooperative learning set up with teachers - a class on stellar evolution and a NASA program designed for fifth and sixth graders on the universe.
* The board voted unanimously to accept the resignation of Jill Dugan, part-time typist in the bus garage but decided to evaluate the position to determine if the position is necessary or if it can be done differently by the next board meeting.
* It also voted to appoint volunteer athletic assistants: Diesel Hitt, Jeremy Dunn, Casey Underwood and Jim Mahaney.
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
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