School nurses play a vital role in emergency care for students and as a long-term connection between students, parents and schools.
Para educators offer vital assistance to teachers with large class sizes and a growing number of students with special needs.
Juneau’s few auditoriums serve as venues to operas, symphonies and other public performances.
All of these services proved important enough for Juneau’s citizens to come and ask the Budget Committee to spare. All of these services are currently on the cutting block.
Alaska’s Base Student Allocation, the formula used to fund education, received no increase in Gov. Sean Parnell’s 2012 budget. The allocation is particularly valuable to districts because they get to control how it is spent.
However Parnell recently hinted that he may offer a one-time boost to educational funding.
The Juneau School District Board Budget Committee is pushing ahead with public comment on the possibility that between $4 million and $6 million, 66 hired positions, could be cut from the 2013 budget. Many of the cuts would hit administration, classroom sizes and other programming.
At the previous Budget Committee meeting Superintendent Glenn Gelbrich said the budget could “seriously undermine our progress.”
Gelbrich denied claims that the District had somehow over-budgeted bringing on the cuts.
“The idea that something was over-budgeted is a misnomer,” Gelbrich said. “The fact that the budget was under spent allowed us a very limited carry over. We are living closer to the bone than most school districts are. If we thought we have money to fund the model, we ‘d fund it.”
Gelbrich said the number of cuts required this year make meeting the cuts through attrition unlikely this year.
“We don’t think this budget thing is over,” Gelbrich said.
Dionne Cadiente-Laiti, executive director of the Goldbelt Heritage Foundation, said she addresses historical trauma caused by a western education system. The trauma stems from boarding schools punishing native language speaking in Alaska.
Her Foundation works with cultural para educators in the schools and supports the program through grants. She said the work cultural para educators do to share the Tlingit language with all students is a right.
“It is about justice,” Cadiente-Laiti said. “My belief is that this is a right, an inherent right. That our traditional education system be in our school district. I’m not asking, I’m saying it is a right.”
Suzanne Dutson apologetically suggested placing salary caps on teachers to maintain funding for school nurses to provide care for her hemophiliac nephews and other ADA children.
Jenny Molecha’s five-year-old son is about to start school. He has type one diabetes and needs possible emergency care. On a challenging day her son’s blood sugar can spike out of the safe range. A registered nurse in every school is necessary, Monica said. “Please do not cut the budget.”
The reduction of an auditorium manager position could limit use to a single venue at a time, said Laura Hayward of the Juneau Lyric Opera.
“Our high school auditoriums are very important to us for opera, theater and dance,” She said.
Bruce Simonson agreed and said the school district runs the risk of alienating support in the community and of looking like a poor steward of cultural facilities.
Superintendent Gelbrich said a model with one manager and skilled assistants could allow for simultaneous auditorium use.
McKenna Lovejoy, a fourth-grade student at Glacier Valley Elementary, asked the Committee to spare her teacher’s job.
“She does such a good job and what does she get for it? The loss of a job. She has made us a better school. I am terribly upset at this. [Her class] helps us love school.”
Cultural Para Educator Glenda Lindley of Glacier Valley Elementary has worked in the district for 21 years. She said she has watched many budget negotiations and knows the committee has a tough job. However, she said she was dismayed at the cuts to the district’s cultural para educators.
“We have three-and-a-half positions cut and that is criminal,” Lindley said. “I beg you to all take a day off and come to a school, don’t pick Wednesday, that's a nice day, pick a Monday. Come and see what we do, see what the nurses do.”
Lindley is also the union representative of her school. As president, she said teachers could not get anything done without paras in their classrooms. Classrooms have a rising rate of students with special needs. She said the cuts were “outrageous. You can’t take away our para educators.”
The Committee will discuss revisions to the budget at its next meeting on Jan. 31 at Juneau-Douglas High School. Revisions could include the prioritization of what to put back in the budget and what to take out. There will be public comment.
Public questions can be submitted by email to budgetinput@jsd.k12.ak.us.
This article has been changed to correct the spelling of Suzanne Dutson's name, and to reflect the fact Glenda Lindley is the union representative at her school.
• Contact reporter Russell Stigall at 523-2276 or at russell.stigall@juneauempire.com.
Comments (31)
Add commentLet me see... we built a new
Let me see... we built a new high school in a town with a declining student population, we gave all the high school students Apple laptops when most of them already had computers at home (so now they can check Facebook more frequently), we pay the teachers a 12-month wage to work 8-months, and we're wondering how this "emergency" happened?
p.s. spare me the "I don't know how valuable teachers are" comments, I already know that and appreciate them putting up with today's misguided youth. Its just that they make the same wage as I do, but I work 12 months. (also, spare me the "if you want all that time off, become a teacher!" comments... trust me, you don't want me teaching your children).
hurry up, your 2 minute timer is on.
I attended the school board meeting last night, it was an eye opener and a joke at the same time. Not only does the school board want to cut nursing care, teachers, para-educators, and music programs, they are also cutting the janitorial staff in most schools. WOW, now our children can attend a filthy school. There will be a good rodent population moving in schools if this happens. With cutting the cleaning of the schools, they are going to deteriorate fast, thus causing more damage to the schools. This will cause more budget monies deemed into fixing them, taking away vital funds from the children’s educational needs. I would not want to attend a filthy school, nor would any child.
BUT the biggest joke of the evening was the school board gave the people who attended the meeting only 2 minutes to speak. While at the podium overlooking the board speaking, you couldn’t help but notice the board member sitting just before Richard Monkman , FALLING ASLEEP in his hands, right down to the head bobbing up and down. Mr. Board member, I am sorry we bored you last night interrupting your naptime. But this is our children’s education you have in your hands. At least try and look interested in what the people were saying next time.
@Alaska Teacher
Is there any chance you could have our kids clean up behind themselves? Perhaps we can offer courses in custodial services? At least forty percent of these kids will need valuable skills like those since JSD cannot seem to educate them and graduate them on time.
re: AH AH
the children are asked to clean tables at lunchtimes, however the mess on the floors the janitors clean and mop. Have you seen the high schools, they throw trash all over the lunch area, down the halls they toss food, gum and paper all over. Yes, you can teach them at home to clean up after themselves, but when they are at school, for some reason all manners and keeping things clean are out the door. Then you have the accidental spills, vacuuming and clearing snow. The janitors do a lot more then the public knows about. They are also a vital person in the schools.
re; AH AH
how can we offer a course in custodial services to the children if they are cutting 62 positions...?
Maybe instead of cutting 66
Maybe instead of cutting 66 of the teachers, nurses etc, we could cut 15 of the $100,000 plus administrator level positions? Do we really need all the coordinators, assistant superintentendants etc? When you look at the number of employees in the school district, there are more nonteachers than there are teachers. Trim that end instead of the teachers
Hire Local?
Maybe we should have hired a local Superintendent and local principles so their priority would be our town not getting a paycheck to spend weekends and time off in California!
It wouldn't fix all the financial problems but it would at least reassure me and other parents that their hearts are here in our community.
I have lately dealt with 2 completely useless teachers who are near retirements and really need to retire and save the district money so seems to me maybe that's where they should start. Look at these teachers parents always complain about cut them out then revisit how much money is left. The 2 I am talking about I can say that not one parent I know or child I know thinks they are effective teachers and have very low classroom grades.
Being near retirement should not allow teachers to sit on their hineys and skate through teaching.
Go back 12 Years
In 2000 we did not have the amount of JSD administrative desk-sitters that we do today.
Since No Child Left Behind was enacted (in an honest effort to capture children who were failing), MANY jobs were created to "oversee" the federal law. All those "Director of Student Services," "Director of Testing," "Director of Curriculum," require assistants, etc. and they all get benefits.
Do we REALLY need that many positions since No Child Left Behind has been changed or might even be done, and our enrollment has DECLINED? The answer is no.
I'll go 'Old School' and tell you what kids have always needed to succeed: teachers, paper and pencils, books/computers, clean and safe schools, buses, food, and caring adults who know their names (paraeducators and/or nurses).
Cut the other stuff.
Oh, and Ak-Mom, I heard the Superintendent's wife and family live in Oregon, where he goes on weekends, not California.
@Middle
I agree with everything you said. I miss the old school days when teachers actually wrote on report cards and gave them to you, had real face to face meetings. When staff knew the kids, really knew the kids.
And thank you for the correction I had heard Ca... I guess all the matters is they aren't here.
@Alaska Teacher
First of all, Don't "Ask" those kids to clean tables... Insist that they do. Every time. No exceptions. When you do it this way magic happens.... Tables get cleaned.
Then after you have learned that you can get them to clean tables start insisting that they clean up spills. Kids of nearly all school ages can operate brooms and mops. I am willing to bet that they can operate snow shovels as well.
If you instill discipline they will learn self discipline but, the only way it works is if you insist on it.
Can't discipline
You can't discipline kids in school today so making them clean up after themselves is impossible. Lawsuits would exceed any savings from janitor salaries. I like how the school board take the "bottom up" approach to cuts. How about a salary review for all in JSD making over $60K per year? A 20% cut across the board will save far more than booting our janitors.
Oil Lobbyist gov. wants to
Oil Lobbyist gov. wants to underfund education while giving billions away to the oil companies.
Alaskans voted for an oil lobbyist to act as their Governor
so this is what happens
Alaskans need to take their state back from this oil lobbyist and the reps. that support his agenda
Vote them out this next election 2012 and in 2014
Concerned Citizen
The reality of this situation is that when/if the school nurse positions are eliminated and those duties delegated to "health aides" liability will be enormous. The $5.6 million dollar shortfall will be chump change in comparison with the prolonged litigation costs and settlements associated with the inevitable errors and subsequent damage (or worse) to the ADA covered children or YOUR child who has a serious accident, illness or injury at school requiring a nursing skill level until first responders and EMS arrive on the scene. These children are covered under Federal statutes and must have nursing care available to provide them with a "least restrictive environment" public education environment. JSD must figure this out without endangering the health and safety of the children they are mandated to educate. Stop paying Kindergarten teachers a salary equal to administrative staff (regardless of tenure), privatize janitorial services, hire a grant writer to find and secure funding for music, sports, and cultural positions and activities. Those enrichment activities can be identified in the community and provided for outside of the school. WE CANNOT REPLACE OUR CHILDREN WHEN NURSES ARE NOT AVAILABLE TO MAKE LIFESAVING DECISIONS OR ADMINISTER STABILIZING THERAPEUTIC MEDICATIONS !!!!
This scan has been floating around my building
I thought it was apropos...
Chelsea
AWESOME!
Great one!
Chelsea - that is hilarious!
And Banditrider ,
Why would you want a person with an advanced degree and over $75,000 in university fees/costs to receive less than $60,000 a year? Teachers are NOT overpaid, even w/ summer break in there. Look at what a lawyer makes, what an engineer makes, what any other educated person with a Master's Degree makes... Yes, some are not good at their job, but most are doing a lot with the complex mix of kids they get.
I don't want some desperate hack willing to take a job where the highest rate of pay is $60,000 teaching our future leaders. I want someone with some dignity, pride, and education. I wish we could pay the really good ones more!
Nurses..
Replace the Nurses with EMT's great idea!! Why not? they can administer patient's medications and treat Patients for traumatic injuries "fractured bones and spinal injuries".
@Middle
"I don't want some desperate hack willing to take a job where the highest rate of pay is $60,000 teaching our future leaders. I want someone with some dignity, pride, and education. I wish we could pay the really good ones more!"
See I tend to disagree with this... look back when teachers were paid far less, when they didn't have power school to inform parents, back when they had to work hard for the kids. How many took the time to really work compared to now. Seems the more we pay, the more technology we give them the lazier and less effective they are. (( Sorry I am currently going head on with a teacher that acts like all he has to do it show up ))
I think teachers that teach for less are doing it for the real love it of it and the ones that just demand more money are the ones we need out. They are clearly in the career for all the wrong reasons.
I agree however with paying the good ones more. Maybe their pay should be linked to kids' scores and parent reviews. I bet the lazy ones would be a lot more involved (or quit and save us the money). And the ones who are amazing can finally get the credit they deserve!
However I 100% agree that the admin and all the extras are not only over paid but not needed. You only need one bus driver and our district seems to have a a dozen (figuratively speaking) but seriously only one person and hold the steering wheel and keep it going in the right direction.
:/
"Your comment has been queued for moderation by site administrators and will be published after approval."
so you will never see it...
No worries Ak_Mom
you've probably said it before.
What about the Extended Learning program?
I find it interesting that this article doesn't mention the threat of cutting the Extended Learning (EL) program or possibly eliminating it altogether. There was a brave fourth grade EL student that spoke at the meeting last night about the importance of this program to her and her peers. She was more loud and clear than most of the adults testifying and it didn't even make it into the article. As a parent of an EL child, which are considered special needs, this is infuriating. The EL program keeps my daughter challenged, interested, excited and more importantly not bored. If you feel strongly about saving this important program please take the time to write the superintendent and the school board. This is about our children getting the help they need and deserve!
What about the $700,000 for
What about the $700,000 for student travel? Seems like a no-brainer to eliminate that. Sorry sports teams and bands you will need to work a little harder and fund yourselves.
@ Concerned Citizen
If we follow your logic regarding the liability of not having Nurses at the school then one has to wonder just how much liability we are already accepting because we choose not to have Fully qualified Medical Doctors of each specialty on staff and present at each particular school.
BTW: In this state and in most other states, the schools without nurses on staff far out number those with nurses on staff.
This is simple. Since the
This is simple. Since the city have refused to do their jobs (as history have shown), since the state refuse to do it's job (as this article have shown) ...
What you will see, are ghost schools. If they make this mistake, you will see more kids in home schooling or out of state schooling.
@ima49er
1st we have all repeated ourselves before on here. That's what we do. Very few arguments on any of the JE forums are new unless a newbie comes on here. Even then it's often still an opinion we have all said or read before. But hey I am glad your reading mine enough to notice :)
2nd it was meant to be sarcasm.. not that you won't see MY post but whenever people see that their post is being moderated it often doesn't make it up.
sheesh! Don't cut my budget,
sheesh! Don't cut my budget, cut someone else's. My program is a right and entitlement! No wonder they can't get anyone to be on the school board.
Cutting
I know a number of people who work for the Juneau School District and the entire process has greatly diminished morale. Perhaps that was never the overall intent, but it's the overall effect.
Back@cha Ak_Mom
So the repetition is for the newbies...very thoughtful, my mistake.
@ima49er Noooooo
Maybe the repetition should be for you since you can't read or you just make what people say mean what you want it to mean.
Now I know why PP repeats himself so much. Jeez
Well you have a good evening.
You are doing their job for them
We are talking about 4 percent staff cut. They tell you we will cut your favorite (fill in the blank). You do all the screaming to get city/state funding. We still have a school district That only half of the staff are teachers. If you can not see money being wasted, you are not looking. Why are all the school districts plow trucks parked at peoples houses? Many other areas that if looked at by an independent consultant to save money.
Lets not forget contract negotiations. What better negotiating tool than threat of lay offs?