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Moreland School District |
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Superintendent's Message - February 2012If your plan is for a year, plant rice If your plan is for a decade, plant trees If your plan is for a lifetime, educate children. ~ Confucius We know that we cannot allow the current economic crisis to keep us from looking ahead. One of the most opportune times to plan for the future is when the present appears so grim. And so it is with the California budget …. again. Governor Brown’s proposed budget balances education finances on the hopes of passing a tax initiative in November, which has yet to even reach the ballot. And, if the measure does pass, we still lose financial ground, just not as much. It would seem like a perfect time to throw up our hands and profess that we can’t do anything to improve the education of our children. But that’s not the case. We can’t allow the bleak budget news to sidetrack us from our mission – to provide the best education we can for our children. Before looking ahead, there are some critical realities stemming from the Governor’s proposed budget. We must prepare a budget for Moreland without assuming any future funding from the Governor’s November tax initiative. That means we must allow for an approximate $1.6 million of ongoing annual cuts in the Moreland budget – on top of the millions we have lost in years past. Among these cuts, two notable “highlights” are the complete loss of all home-to-school transportation funding. Even with passage of the November initiative, these funds remain on the chopping block. While Moreland is not presently contemplating any change in its student bussing, it’s important to remember that the District is only required to transport qualified special education students. If we do maintain our current level of bussing, we must find other ways to make up the shortfall in funding. The other major news in the budget relates to changes in kindergarten. “The Kindergarten Readiness Act,” Senate Bill 1381, changed the kindergarten entry date from December 2nd to November 1st for the 2012/2013 school year, and continues to move it back one month each year until the kindergarten entry date is September 1st in 2014/2015. This change would put California in line with almost every other state in the country. However, the law also requires school districts to provide transitional kindergarten services for students impacted by the changing birth date requirements. While the provisions for this transitional kindergarten program remain current law, the Governor’s budget does not mandate it or fund it. As we await further action by the Governor and the legislature, the District will accept registration for students who turn 5 between November 1st and December 2nd and plan for transitional kindergarten services, pending state funding for the program or some further action. Notwithstanding our current budget reality, Moreland continues to look ahead. This year, we will be upgrading our technology infrastructure and making every school building wireless. We will speed up the retirement and replacement of older computers in our classrooms. And, we will look to expand our building capacity to meet the increasing demand for our excellent schools. Our Board meetings over the next six months will focus on all of these issues and more. Please keep an eye on the calendar, and plan to join us to learn more. Our next regular Board meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 14th (Happy Valentine’s Day!). Please forward any budget suggestions and/or questions you may have to the Superintendent’s Office, care of our Office Manager, Tanya De La Cruz at tdelacruz@moreland.org. Thank you for your ongoing dedication to our schools and our students. Working together, we’ll keep a sharp eye on the future and move Moreland ahead. Sincerely, Mark Barmore |
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Mark Barmore 2011-2012 2011-12 School Year Spanish Read previous messages En Español |
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