As the new school principal, because impending budget cuts have created anguish, anger, and distress in the school community, you have called a town hall meeting for the school and its community. You are having to explain budget recommendations the superintendent has asked you to make. You are having to explain the process that you will use in arriving at the decisions regarding the budget cuts, however you have an initial set of draft budget reduction recommendations that you have had to make in order to engage your staff and stakeholders. Attending this community meeting with the school are students, parents, staff including teachers, cafeteria workers, custodians, teacher assistants, and instructional support staff, i.e., psychologists, etc. Additionally, local faith leaders, and business leaders are in attendance. Members of their congregation have expressed concerns to them about the impending budget cuts that are on the grapevine and rumor mill. They have members in their congregation from all aspects of the school and its community. Cuts to members of their congregations mean a revision in their budget projections and stress in their faith communities.
Your school community is before you for a very important discussion about resource deficits potentially impacting how the school will move forward under your leadership and where you want it to go. You must make this statement in the context of decision-making that in this instance includes some serious programmatic changes in the form of budget reductions and program cuts.
In this opening statement you must offer an initial set of recommendations concerning programs and services to be cut along with your justification for them based upon your beliefs about what is most important and data informed priorities and the financial challenges facing the district. Then you must outline a process for arriving at final recommendations for budget cuts involving all stakeholders. Additionally, feedback has it that there is considerable dissatisfaction from the staff and stakeholders concerning the process used to finalize school priorities.
To reiterate, your district is facing a major budget deficit. The school board is looking for a recommendation from the superintendent and his administration on cost cutting strategies to balance the budget. The superintendent is asking for recommendations from his principals. You are given a task of choosing and prioritizing five of the following options. In other words, which five would you cut and in what order:
1. Increasing class size by a total of three students per class. Your school already has very large classes and your parents and teachers are concerned that you will choose this as an option. Both teachers and parents are concerned that with increased class sizes come classroom management challenges and discipline problems.
2. Eliminating remedial programs for struggling students. Teachers and parents of struggling students are concerned that you may choose this option. Teachers are concerned that they will be expected to differentiate instruction beyond their capabilities. Parents of high achieving students are concerned that these struggling students will now be in classrooms with their students and hold back their acceleration.
3. Eliminating extracurricular activities like band, debate club, and athletics. Each of the extracurricular programs has a vocal support base.
4. Freezing teacher salaries.
5. Reducing health care benefits for teachers and other staff including eliminating healthcare for domestic partners, and requiring staff to contribute more to the cost of their healthcare. Although Indiana law recognizes same sex marriages, it does not require healthcare for domestic partners. The teachers union obtained this benefit in previous contract negotiations, and it is now offered for all employee groups. It represents a significant cost to the district’s budget
6. Eliminating programs for gifted students. Your school has an array of gifted and talented programs. Because of the district’s liberal transfer policy, many parents of high ability students enroll their students in your school. It is the source of your school’s diversity because it is in an inner city neighborhood and has a school population of African American and Latino students on free and reduced lunch.
7. Significant reductions in instructional support personnel, i.e., psychologists, counselors, teacher assistants, etc.
8. Significant reductions in non-instructional support personnel, i.e., custodians, cafeteria workers, etc.
9. Eliminating school bus transportation services. (Currently, in addition to transportation for students living more than a mile from school the districts schools provide transportation for shorter distances, i.e., block to block stops for pre-k and kindergarten students, because of inclement weather and darkness during the winter months, hazardous crossings at intersections and across busy thoroughfares, as well as transportation for extra curricular activities. It also has a needs based system that includes among other criteria, family income, i.e., hardship for families where parental work schedules prevent them from taking children to school.)
In your statement to the school community please explain your rationale for the choice that you make and the process that you will use in arriving at the final recommendations. Outline the criteria that will guide the selection of the final recommendations. Clearly delineate the how’s, why’s, and who’s involved from the school and community that will be used to gather data, review the data, and arrive at a final set of recommendations
