Amherst School Committee Meeting Tonight, Jan. 19: Budget Discussion

There will be a meeting of the Elementary School Committee tonight at 7pm in the High School Library. Included in the items on the agenda will be a discussion of $1 million in budget cuts for next year.

I've copied a short article from today's Daily Hampshire Gazette below:

School board to discuss cuts tonight

By Nick Grabbe

AMHERST - Struggling elementary school students could lose support if the district can't find extra money, according to a cut list distributed last week.
The Amherst School Committee will discuss the new prioritized cut list at its meeting tonight at 7 in the high school library.
"This process is not celebratory," said Superintendent Alberto Rodriguez. "Anything we cut is painful. It's, What kind of intense pain do we leave for last?' It's not like there won't be casualties."
If next year's funding were the same as this year's, the elementary schools would still have to spend about $1 million less than if services were kept constant. That's because of rising costs, especially for teacher salaries.
An estimated $582,997 of that $1 million will come from the closing of Mark's Meadow School.
The rest will come from cutting $210,341 from the operating budget, including four classroom teachers, and $278,431 from the central office, according to the cut list.
To avoid cutting more deeply, the schools would need some combination of a tax override, more state aid than expected, and/or givebacks of negotiated salary increases. If none of that money arrives, the equivalent of almost 10 more positions could be lost.
Most of those employees currently deal with students in need: intervention specialists, a psychologist, special education teachers and those helping students who don't speak English well.
"I don't want to be put in the position to cut things for the most vulnerable," said School Committee member Irv Rhodes. "These are the ones who can least afford it. This is very troubling." He added that the majority of those affected would be boys.
In spite of the need for cuts, the budget includes three new preschool positions, which Rodriguez has called a priority.
Also on the cut list is one position in instructional technology. "This would take us backwards to the level of technology at least a decade ago," said Rodriguez.

Upcoming School Events

4th and 5th Grade Chorus Concert.  Jan 14th, 7pm. Middle School Auditorium.

Teacher Curriculum Workday. Jan. 15. No School.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Jan. 18. No School.

Educational Implications of Chronic Medical Conditions in Children. Thursday, Jan. 21st. from 6:00-8:30 pm at the Professional Development Center at the Amherst Middle School. Presented by Dr. Emily Gonzalez. More info here.

School Committee Meeting. Tues. Jan 26. 7pm. High School Library.

School Council Meeting. Thurs. Jan. 28, 5-6:30pm. Fort River Conference Room.

Coffee With the Principals. Friday, Feb. 5, 8:30-9:15am. Fort River Cafeteria. 

Fort River Roasters Coffee Orders Due. Friday, Feb. 5.

Parent Council Meeting. Thurs. Feb. 11. 8:45-9:45am. Fort River Library.

*Items in teal are sponsored by Parent Council.

Attention Families Moving to Wildwood Next Year

The Wildwood PTO invites all parents/guardians of children attending Wildwood next year (2010-2011) to meet at Rao's Coffee from 8:30-9:30 am on Wednesday January 20th.   Buy your own coffee and meet some new friends.  We want to start the dialogue going on ways to help all the kids & families transition to their new environment next year, whether that means a different building and/or different faces in the classroom.  This event is purely social, there will be no formal agenda. 

Internet Safety Information

Joan Gallinaro, the Technology Integration Teacher at Fort River, attended the internet safety workshop presented by Cindy Boyle of the District Attorney's office last week at Marks Meadow. Joan asked me to post some information from the presentation for those of us who were not able to attend. Please click the link for a PDF document: http://is.gd/6fVzS

Middle School Coffee TODAY (Jan. 14) at Noon

The middle school's Family School Partnership is hosting their monthly Coffee/Brown Bag Lunch with the Principal on Thursday, January 14th from noon to 1pm in the MS Professional Development Center.  Enjoy casual conversation about the middle school, ask questions and share ideas.  Beverages and dessert will be provided. Everyone is welcome.

Rotary Grant

Applications are being accepted from local non-profit organizations and government agencies now through Feb. 28, 2010 for the Amherst Rotary Community Grant at www.AmherstRotaryClub.org.

This $25,000 grant will fund a single project that will provide an important and sustainable improvement to the quality of life in our community. More information here: http://www.amherstrotaryclub.org/content/grant-intro.html

Upcoming Community Events

Please note that these events are not sponsored by Parent Council.
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Start 2010 creatively with Multi-Arts:

After school Fridays at Fort River.
A 10 weeks Art & Theatre Workshop: The fun will end in a great production (grade 1 to 6)
Click here for more details.

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Come dance and meet new friends at the Northampton Family Dance! Join us for our third dance of the season on Sunday, January 17, from 3 - 5 PM at First Churches, 129 Main St., Northampton (use Center Street entrance). Brendan Taaffe calls, with music by Susan Janssen & Shirley White. Come enjoy easy, fun dances for children and families, from traditional American to international folk. All dances are taught, so no dance experience is necessary. Admission is $4 per person for ages 3 and up, free for ages 2 and under, $15 maximum per family. The Northampton Family Dance is held on the third Sunday of the month, November through March. For more information, please call Judy Stern (parent of Fort River third grader) at (413) 256-2613.

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Click on image below to enlarge.

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Fort River Parent Council will publish information about non-Parent Council sponsored events with the following conditions:

1. The event should be of interest to Fort River families.
2. The information should be sent to Ann McLaughlin at damclaughlin@comcast.net in the form of a short description.
3. Contact information (website or name, telephone and/or email address) must be included.

We add new information to the blog every Thursday during the school year. Please send your announcement no later than 5pm Wednesday for inclusion in the week's updates. Also note that we do not accept announcements of items or services for sale (with the exceptions of children's classes/lessons). Inclusion in this section does not imply any guarantees or endorsements by Fort River Parent Council or Fort River School.