Imagine attending a school where tests and sports must be paid for, teachers do not get raises and there is an excess of students in all classes. Like it or not, this is where FCPS is heading.
On Jan. 7, Superintendent Jack Dale presented the 2011 Proposed Budget of $2.3 billion, the lowest in recent history, to the School Board. His plan includes $108.4 million in cuts and a $3.4 million increase resulting in a net decrease of $105 million. “Due to the current dismal local and state economic conditions, this budget contains cuts and cost avoidances that will be felt throughout our school system,” Dale said recently, “We continue to face very difficult decisions, but we are a strong school system and if we work together we will make it through this crisis.”
The proposed cuts include a fee of $100 for every sport a student plays. Most students feel that this will greatly decrease participation in sports. “Sports make you get involved, you have all these friends to help you,” freshman Khalid Kamara said.
Another cut in sports includes the possible elimination of all freshman sports, which would make all freshmen who want to play sports have to try out for JV or Varsity teams. “It’s unfair that they’re going to take away sports from freshman. More people are going to end up in gangs because they won’t be on sports teams,” freshman Brody Elachi said.
Also affecting sports will be the proposed cancellation of winter track and winter cheerleading. Even though both of these cuts were proposed last year, many students are upset. “Winter track is the most popular sport,” Elachi said.
Most students participate in winter track in between their fall and spring sports in order to stay in shape during the off season.
Another proposed change is increasing the class size by one student to anticipate the 1,760 additional students, something that not all teachers are happy about. “It’s more difficult for us to work with [students] and give them the attention they deserve when they add an extra person,” history teacher Meghan Adair said.
Adding an extra student to each class could also affect teachers in other negative ways. “By increasing class size, less teaching positions are required. A large portion of the FCPS budget goes towards salaries and benefits,” said Principal John Ponton.
Teachers are also being denied raises for the second year in a row. The budget for instructional coaches could get greatly reduced. “Teaching is a very demanding job. When teachers are asked to continue performing at high levels but are not compensated for their efforts with salary and cost-of-living increases, morale is affected and students will suffer the consequences,” Ponton said.
“Students are definitely at a disadvantage. It’s a tough situation because they have to find ways to save money,” Adair said.
Also, 600 positions might be cut including 81 central office support positions. “It’s possible that one assistant principal may be destaffed [at AHS]. This would increase the student caseload for the remaining assistant principals,” Ponton said.
To help support the remaining programs, Dale has also proposed a $75 dollar fee to take an AP or an IB test.
Another program that is up for the ax is summer school. The program, which helps students get back on track after failing a class or to take extra classes in order to get ahead, would be completely removed. “Students will have to attend other summer programs such as Word of Life or live with the consequences,” Ponton said.
Potential cuts that will not necessarily directly involve AHS include band and strings programs being potentially cut in elementary schools and foreign language immersion programs that are also in elementary schools. Dale has requested that the Board of Supervisors increase the county transfer by $57.8 million. “If we do not get the additional funding, these programs will be considered for elimination,” Dale said.
The budget will not be adopted until Feb. 4, after being worked on and edited. There will be School Board public hearings on Jan. 25 and 26 at Jackson Middle School, as well as a work session on Jan. 28.
