Elk County made the Channel 12 news tonight...

[pepelect]

It's a lot like going to your doctor, finding out you have cancer in your leg, and then having to have your leg amputated. Amputation is terrible, but much better than letting cancer destroy you.

It is like we went to our family practitioner and got the news years ago, did nothing, and now wonder why we still have cancer.  Instead of dealing with a small issue we are now lancing the issue.   Cutting it open to see exactly what we were told years earlier would happen with out action.   Yes it is going to hurt, we will bleed,  but we will be better in the long run.  

[sixdogsmom]

So why don't we stop bussing? And why don't we do away with the cafeterias? How much would that save?

[pepelect]

not enough

[Catwoman]

Not enough to make up the difference...Mr. Hall is absolutely correct...The only way to effectively cut the needed amount is to RIF (reduction in force) teachers...When you stop to consider the fact that there are many educators in the West Elk system that are making above 45k/year (thanks to their longevity in the system...You have many loyal educators who have dedicated their lives to your students) and then you take however many jobs will be RIF'd and take that times each other, you suddenly come up with the needed amount to be saved.  This closing of the two schools is not an academically-based issue...It's a financial issue...The only way to justify keeping your two schools open would be if there were a sudden influx of students, raising both the revenues coming into each elementary school and also the taxes coming into the Courthouse in Howard...None of which is going to happen because of the lack of economic development in Elk County.

[Jo McDonald]

Is there any law that says you can not get your child to school?  Is there any law that says your child can not carry a "sack lunch"?
I don't believe that everyone has to have someone else take care of their parental responsibilities.  Yes---times are hard, but parents could make the effort to get their children to school.  Moline children could go to school in Moline --- Severy children could go to school in Severy and Howard students could go to Moline -- 8 miles south.  I know there are going to be groans galore on this next statement -- I went to the 8th grade and all through high school 8 miles away. There were NO buses -- just different families that took turns driving several students to school.  Money was a lot shorter then than it is now ---- There are ways and means to do things, if some old time thoughts and traditions  are applied.  
Your are correct --- I'm a WHOLE lot older than most of you!!! So What? There are solutions - to ALL problems -- But they have to be approached from different angles than what is being applied by this administration.

[sixdogsmom]

Amen, Jo, Amen! 

[Catwoman]

Is there any law that says you can not get your child to school?  Is there any law that says your child can not carry a "sack lunch"?
I don't believe that everyone has to have someone else take care of their parental responsibilities.  Yes---times are hard, but parents could make the effort to get their children to school.  Moline children could go to school in Moline --- Severy children could go to school in Severy and Howard students could go to Moline -- 8 miles south.  I know there are going to be groans galore on this next statement -- I went to the 8th grade and all through high school 8 miles away. There were NO buses -- just different families that took turns driving several students to school.  Money was a lot shorter then than it is now ---- There are ways and means to do things, if some old time thoughts and traditions  are applied.  
Your are correct --- I'm a WHOLE lot older than most of you!!! So What? There are solutions - to ALL problems -- But they have to be approached from different angles than what is being applied by this administration.

Actually, yes, there are mandates that SPED children will have buses made available to them to ensure that the children receive services regardless of parental ability to provide transportation...Either they are bused or the specialists have to travel to the child to provide services.  As far as the school lunch program is concerned, it has never, in any school system I've heard of, been a program that has operated in the black.  Every program I've ever heard of has operated in the red because of cost overrun...And part of the problem is all the pre-cooked items...It has been proven that cooking onsite saves money when real cooking is occuring...Not just heating up Readi-Serve items.

[Jo McDonald]

But----wouldn't it make sense for the parent to step up here and offer to shoulder some of the responsibility for their own children to offset the final result that all of this is leading to?  For the life of me -- I can't see why we all can't be in charge of our own children.
sighhhhhhhhhhh it beats me!!!!!
  It reminds me of a TV show back in the 50's --- when one of the players was asked, "how come he didn't do something" and his answer was "That's not my job". 
I guess that is the standard approach to things in this day and age.

[sixdogsmom]

Not all of our kids are special ed; even though many have worked hard trying to get that extra government dollar by labeling a child as being some kind of disabled. All the testing of this and testing of that is enough to make you sick! When in your gut you know the child is not the concern, but the dollar certainly puts a certain scent into the air! The sharks are circling folks! And no kind of Mae West will save you or your young. Any input as to the number of SPED students in 282?

[Sarah]

I am wondering, I've heard it mentioned again and again about Elk county losing people and the population, student and other wise, declining.  It seems to me that if a bunch of teachers and staff and whomever are going to be let go, won't that make the population in Elk county that much worse as most of these people will leave to go find jobs else where?   Elk county has a pretty low job force anyway.  It's HARD to find a job around here unless you know someone and it seems to close down one of the main employers in the county isn't a good idea. 

I agree with Jo.  I see nothing wrong with sack lunches and parents paying for the extra things they want, though I do realize that's only part of the problem.