JCS Cuts Voted On At Next Board Meeting

Here is a link to a recent local radio show with Dr. Croom discussing cutting teachers, teacher assistants, custodians and "office support":

http://www.fliqz.com/aspx/permalinkblank.aspx?vid=653674b135a54a3bb583f0dd7ff7ea1b

Dr. Croom got the bad news (state budget-wise) last week in Raleigh. The projected budget shortfall for 2011 is one billion dollars.

There are more videos under the "budget" tab on the redesigned JCS website:

http://www.johnston.k12.nc.us

Other cuts under discussion include cutting band supplies and supplements for the band directors, closing the AIG Center and cutting athletic supplies and supplements for the coaches. Opening two new high schools in the county is getting very expensive.

I personally think that everything possible will be cut before they touch athletics because athletics presumably keeps students from dropping out.

Perhaps parents should show up at the meeting to voice their opinions about the cuts?

 

The only two athletic teams that are pretty much fully funded are football and basketball. As a swim parent let me tell you the parents pay for everything other than the coach and the bus and really......we pay for that with our taxes, including lane rental. We buy the suits, the caps, our kids do the coaching when training, etc.

I'll have to check your links but believe me football and basketball are the two that are funded. A good friend of mine had a son in football and a daughter in swimming and she was shocked at how much money the parents put down for the swimmers. I believe she bought her son "shoes" for football and they get fed before games.

Sherry

 

The way it is explained is that the NC State budget is suffering and all public school systems will receive less money, not just the JC school system.

Funds for our schools come from 3 sources:

Federal
State
County

The accumulation of funds from those 3 sources is what will fund the school budget. If the cumulative funds are cut then it seems to reason that the JC school system must make some serious decisions.

I applaud our school board for the decsions they've made up to this point. They worked hard not to cut jobs.
Thank goodness we have Dr. Croom instead of the previous Superintendent!!

No one can put blame on opening 2 new high schools. If the student body is to the point where 2 high schools are needed then no one can put blame on those 2 schools.

 

The next board meeting is Tuesday, April 13th at 2:00 PM in the afternoon.

Another big plus about Dr. Croom and the Board is that they have been very "transparent" with their discussions - videos on the website!

 

Another thing going will be resource classes. Write me privately if you want more info. I don't think that one has been quite announced yet. Ashame really for all the cuts.

Stephanie--mom to 7

 

When driving by the new Cleveland High School last week I began to wonder if all those nice brick buildings in and near the stadium (looked like they were bathrooms, storage, concessions, etc...) were worth the cost of staff or educational materials.

 

There is a lot of wasted money in JCS. Sometimes I hate my job because I see the waste but have to keep my mouth shut.

 

do you drive a trash hauler

 

Brick country around here

 

I remember many years ago when Johnston County made the intelligent decision to admit that we needed more schools and the initial investment in a new school began with what was then referred to as the 'new' Cleveland School and is now called Cleveland Elementary School.

At that time there were many public meetings asking for input into what was about to occur here in Johnston County and in the Cleveland community.

At those meetings it was brought out that with each level of school building that there are certain mandated requirements which go along with those schools. If I am not mistaken and if things have not changed, it is mandated that any high schools built must have on their campus such things as a football field, basketball court, baseball diamonds, track for track and field. So what you are referring to here might not be something which was ever in the hands of the JC School Board to skimp on.

Again, I will go back to what I said previously, if our student body between 9th and 12th grade levels are at the point which our county is in need of 2 additional high schools, then are folks suggesting that it was better for the county to continue on with mobile units at the pre-existing high schools or build accordingly.

The general public was crying out that the state drop out rate was too high. The general public was requesting that the school systems work on lowering the drop out rate. One result of decreasing the drop out rate is that the student body in the high school levels will remain high, which in turn, requires room for those students.

The simple truth of the matter is that none of us who are participating in this thread and every other individual is not paying enough into taxes which fund school systems. Whether it be federal taxes, state taxes or local taxes. If there were enough tax revenue on those 3 levels then there would not be any problem for any of the school systems in NC to receive the funds they need from year to year.

NC was promised by the Democratically controlled state legislature that if our state voted for the NC Education Lottery that all the woes of funding our schools would be solved and our school system would prosper with a huge influx of money. The only ones I see prospering are the out of state company which manages the NC Education Lottery and its employees.

 

Duh......

And I want to add, I think it's just *great* that we are doing away with the AIG Center, so that we can help the dropouts. Let's punish the kids that are working hard. While we're at it, let's punish the kids that speak english as well - as there is some money being taken from legal students and going into ESL and those resources.

 

I have no issue with these schools having track, baseball diamonds, etc... The fancy buildings along side them though are a want, not a need.

 

Children can attend private schools in the area for $3500 - $7500 per year. I couldn't find recent stats ... Jo. Co. per pupil expenditure for 2008 was $7500. How much money (tax dollars) do you think it would take to solve the issues?

 

I believe the money for those "fancy buildings" was appropriated long agao so it is a mute point. We are in brick country as another poster said and so brick may be cheaper- do not know. You can not blame funding woes on the building of these schools. They are needed and already budgeted long ago.

 

My comment is not about using brick. I'm suggesting those extra buildings at sports fields are nice but not needs. That school has been built during a time when there have been funding concerns. Perhaps the plans should have been scaled back to necessary structures. Hopefully it is something being considered for future building projects.

 

nope. i'm an auditor.

 

But where is the lottery money going?????

 

I sure would like to thave that $7500 so I could send my kids where I want.

 

I know what you mean

 

question

I looked at the budget powerpoint slide for un mandated programs. What is the out of county students (for which we spend over 200k)?