We are in the midst of the budget process this year and you may have noticed it is a bit different from year’s past. This year, we are attempting to build a budget that meets an overall financial goal of 6.9% increase over per equalized pupil spending, as well as meet program goals identified by the Board. Early on, in September, there was input by the community (you were all invited to give input in the survey), the administration and the Board that led to the decisions being made now. This budget is designed on the priorities that were set by the Board following that input. Budgets in the past have been presented as line item budgets, where certain positions are cut or added and the administration had to live within those parameters. In designing a budget set on goals, the administration has room to make adjustments as revenue changes are known along the way. For example, a budget discussion o kindergarten para-educators meant that those paras could not move to 1st grade with a large class, even though kindergarten might have been smaller the next year. This type of decision making limits the ability to flex with changing conditions and meet changing needs.
The Board has made commitments in the following areas:
· An aligned system leading to high achievement for all students
· 21st century, student centered learning in technology rich environments
· Restructuring for equity and diversity
· Maintain and upgrade facilities for safety, efficiency and accessibility
Priorities that guide this budget process, as determined by the Board are:
· Technology for the 21st century
· Developing a multi-tiered system of support
· BHS/Edmunds facilities planning for 21st century learning and accessibility
· Diversity & equity needs in professional development, recruitment and response to harassment
· Facilities & maintenance needs
· Professional Development for differentiation, ELL, high achievers and common core
· Teacher evaluation system for greater student outcomes
As always, there are choices to be made within a set of goals to provide the best outcomes for our students within our means. We cannot afford to add to this budget and have to reanalyze how we use current resources as well as determine what programs or functions we can no longer afford. This budget process gives some time for us to do that in an ever changing financial environment. In absorbing the current programs with compensation and health increases, we add over $3M to the current budget. We need to make up a $1.2M deficit that stems first from underbudgeting a couple of years ago combined with cost shifts that occurred at the local and federal level. These expenditures combined put our budget above our financial goal and thus we need to determine what to do differently and what to stop doing.
Budget hearings this week will focus on the priorities- are they the right program priorities? Is the financial goal one this community can accept? If the answers are yes, they will guide our spending decisions going forward and set us on the path to have a budget that is aligned with our goals, rather than a budget that is volatile and unstable.
Don't forget to save those Box Tops for Education! You will find them on many specially marked packages of foods and products you buy everyday. All proceeds from Box Tops go directly to the Hunt School Student Council.
Just take these 3 Easy Steps:
1. Cut Box Tops for Education from specially marked packages of products you purchase already.
2. Save these Box Tops in a bag or envelope.
3. Send these Box Tops to school. You or your student can place the Box Tops in the specially marked can in the Hunt main office.
Can't find the can? Ask Ms. Virun, who can show you.
Happy Holiday everyone and thanks for saving Box Tops for Education!!
Making room for new shoes and boots for the holidays? Do you have shoes and boots that you won't wear anymore, but don't want to throw them into the landfills?
Well, have no fear! The Hunt Student Council collects pre-loved shoes and boots and sends them to "Shoe Box Recycling". Want to know what "Shoe Box Recycling" does with your shoes? ContactSusanrutherford@hotmail.com or a Student Council member.
See the specially marked "Shoe Box" collection receptacle in Hunt's Main lobby and thanks for supporting the Hunt Student Council-who support your kids!!
An invite from the Hunt administration to YOU...
YOU ARE INVITED!
Principal/Parent Coffee
Friday, January 31st, 2014, 8:10am to 8:55am
Have coffee or tea with our Principals. Tell us what's on your mind. Let us know what's working or what's not working. Ask questions or just chat and relax with us in our library. Friday. January 31st, morning at 8:10am.
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Happy Winter Solstice!
Enjoy the first day of winter...and the increasing daylight
as we make our way into the new year and early spring! |
- December 23rd - January 1st - No School; Winter Break
- January 2nd, 2014 - School resumes
- January 31st - Coffee with the Principal
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