Many parents and members of the community have approached me, asking about the Governor's proposed 2011-13 biennial budget, and what the potential impacts will be to our school district.
I will write more on this soon. In the meantime, I wanted to be certain everyone has had a chance to absorb the information in a presentation our Finance Director Gerald Pace made for the School Board's Strategic Planning and Budget Committee last Thursday night (March 3, 2011). You can find the presentation by clicking here. Please read through the charts carefully, and become familiar with the picture that this presentation paints. It will be critical to everyone's understanding of the challenges ahead, as we grapple with a potential $74 million dollars in cuts through a reduction in state aid and an elimination of programs we have held dear, such as the Children at Risk program and funding for Advanced Placement courses. We continue to work with policy analysts with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI), who have been helping us to understand the implications of what amounts to an attempt by the Governor to reconfigure public education in this state. Here is a look at DPI's Initial Summary of the proposed budget.
