This is a guest blog, authored by Stephen Tomlinson, Superintendent of the Broadalbin-Perth Central School District
Dear Governor Cuomo:
I’m writing to ask for your help, both in your role as governor of the State of New York and as a lobbyist for the students of our state.
Broadalbin-Perth, the school district that I lead—and reside in as a parent of a kindergarten student—is in trouble. We are dangerously close to being unable to provide our students with the sound, basic education that is guaranteed to them by the State Constitution.
We have followed all of the rules and recommendations that you have given to school districts during your time in office. We also followed the recommendations of your predecessors, dating back to the 1980s when the Broadalbin and Perth school districts merged in order to maximize local resources and expand educational opportunities.
Over the last three years, we have made—and are continuing to make—decisions designed to control costs and increase efficiency in the way we operate our schools. We have exhausted our fund balance to make up for lost state aid and to forestall devastating program cuts, keeping only what we need to ensure fundamental financial security and staying well within the state limit for unappropriated fund balance.
We’ve made overtures to neighboring school districts and municipalities to consolidate or share services, and we have several agreements in place. We’re utilizing BOCES services whenever possible, both to save money and to provide programs and services for our students that we could not otherwise offer on our own. We’ve even participated in a regional transportation pilot study. In fact, I believe that Broadalbin-Perth can stand as a model school district when it comes to actively seeking out and engaging in shared services.
Recent negotiations with several of our employee bargaining units have resulted in significant savings, and we’re currently seeking the same results with our teachers’ union. We’re also working with our teachers’ union to develop an Annual Professional Performance Review system that holds teachers and administrators accountable for student learning, and we are on track to meet your January 2013 deadline.
Our true value tax rate is historically and currently among the lowest in the region, at $16.16 per $1,000 of property value. Our administrators’ salaries are also among the lowest in the region—21st-lowest of 93 school districts, according to the latest Albany Business Review rankings—and we have relatively few administrators for a school district our size. Our per-pupil spending, $16,156, is the 17th-lowest among 91 school districts in the Greater Capital Region, according to the Albany Business Review—yet our student achievement is relatively high, with our district ranking 35th overall in the same report.
So, why do we need your help, you may be wondering? Despite our very best efforts, and some very real achievements and progress, beginning this September we will not be able to provide much more for our students than what is mandated by the state and federal governments. And if our budget is voted down by our residents—as it has been in two of the last four years—we won’t even be able to meet the mandates.
How did we come to this point? Since 2008, when the stock market crashed and state foundation aid to schools was frozen, we have been trimming around the edges, getting closer and closer to our core programs. Over the last three years, we have cut the equivalent of 25.5 full-time positions from our staff of 300—a reduction of nearly 10 percent. These cuts included 12.5 FTE teaching positions and three administrative/management positions. We’ve also reduced extracurricular and athletic program offerings, and increased class sizes. So far, we’ve been able to avoid wholesale cuts to our academic programs.
That’s all about to change. And that’s why I’m looking to you. We need you to work with us to find real and immediate solutions to the problems that Broadalbin-Perth is facing. We can’t wait two or three years—our school district won’t survive that long.
If we raise taxes up to the limit prescribed by the tax levy cap legislation, including exemptions, and if we almost completely exhaust our fund balance, we are still left with a $2.4 million gap between projected revenues and expenditures—nearly 10 percent of our 2011-12 total budget.
Theoretically, we could completely exhaust our fund balance to help fill our budget gap. However, if we do that, one unexpected expense—a leaky roof, a broken boiler, or worse—would force us to borrow money to cover our costs and leave us with interest payments that we can’t afford. As it stands now, we may have to borrow money anyway, just to make payroll in September.
Our situation is further complicated by the ongoing revenue problems of our single largest taxpayer, the Hudson River-Black River Regulating District. Earlier this school year, the regulating district repaid two years’ worth of back taxes—only after the Hudson River section borrowed money from the Black River section, and only after our school district paid $8,000 in legal fees. The regulating district has not yet paid its taxes for the 2011-12 school year, a total of $289,402, and we do not anticipate that it will be able to pay because its revenue problem has not yet been resolved.
This situation has left us with very few choices. In order to close our budget gap for 2012-13, we’re looking at eliminating art and music instruction in our elementary schools, French as a foreign language offering, upper-level Spanish classes, social workers, and all interscholastic athletics and extracurricular programs. We will also reduce technology instruction at our elementary and middle schools; health instruction at our middle school; science, social studies and business electives at our high school; career and technical education opportunities for our high school students; and will revert from full-day to half-day kindergarten.
I don’t want to make any of these cuts, as they provide invaluable learning opportunities and support services for our students. However, under New York State law, they are not mandated, and we must prioritize the programs that we are legally obligated to provide.
At this point, there is no way to avoid all of these potential losses, but with your help, we might be able to mitigate some. We are asking that you:
- Recommend that some or all of the $250 million in grant funding that you proposed being awarded competitively instead be distributed to the state’s most needy school districts.
- Fix the school funding formula so that more state aid goes to the neediest school districts in the state.
- Follow through on your pledge for meaningful mandate relief—which our school districts desperately need.
I know the problems facing Broadalbin-Perth are not solely your responsibility to solve. However, I don’t know what more we can do as a district. Our books are open to you. We invite you or members of your staff to examine them and let us know what we’re missing. Tell us how we can be more efficient. Tell us how to survive—educationally and fiscally—into 2013.
I applaud you for taking on the role of students’ lobbyist. Right now, the students of the Broadalbin-Perth Central School District need you. Please help them.
A message from Education Speaks: We are very happy that this post has generated so many responses. We’d like to remind people to please ensure that any comment they submit follows our policies and guidelines. Thank you!
Dear Mr. Tomlinson,
I applaud your effort in your letter to the Governor. I am the parent of my sophomore daughter who attends South Glens Falls Senior High. Our school is also facing a loss of two and a half million dollars in state aide this coming year. How can we possibly be expected to deal with such a huge loss in revenue? Our seniors who live in the district along with the rest of us certainly can’t afford another tax hike! With fixed incomes and the current state of the economy, the majority of the average and low income families today are lucky if they can just survive. I certainly don’t have any of the answers. I’m a finance manager at a local Toyota dealership. What does that tell you. I have seen a significant decrease in my income alone. I want our children to have the best education possible. I am a huge supporter of our teachers. I am not a union fan of a tenure fan. I don’t think you should be able to keep a job just because you show up each day. I think the teachers evaluation program is long overdue. I also think that the teachers union needs to get with the reality of today’s economy. I don’t know of too many businesses that can affort to give pay raises today. Most of us are appreciative to just have a job much less ask for a raise. We all need to tighten our belts. Our medical insurance benefit at our dealership has increased aproximately 15% each of the last four years. That is money out of our pockets, not the dealerships. Pretty soon employees will be working for benefits and taxes if it keeps going the course. We need changes at the state and federal levels of government if we are all to survive. In my opinion the majority of our elected officials arn’t in touch with the real world of the middle class and the poor. That has to change. Most of the elected officials are so wealthy they can’t relate. Thank you and your fellow Superintendants for fighting the battle for our children. God bless.
Respectfully,
Tim Curley
So. Glens Falls, NY
Mr. Tomlinson:
Kudos to you for a well-written/hit the nail on the head letter! I hope this letter went to Governor Cuomo via “certified mail, return receipt request, deliver to addressee only”. I would be very interested to see his personal reply.
This letter is representative of an epidemic where education has become the scape goat for the economy, along with fire and police services. I fail to see how the fundamental values of educating children and protecting citizens has become the politicians target’s for how to control costs! Where and how did we get to this point.
In NY, Ohio, PA, NJ, etc., it’s become popular to strip education funding at every level and turn educators into villains. I applaud this letter, and feel there should be more like it. I would applaud more, an honest answer from Government as to why the new “evil empire” has become public service. It may be spun that I am wrong but if you read and listen to most news outlets, it is extremely common to state that if teachers would simply take less money, we’d all be fine. Well, that is not true. Our number one investment should be our children, and therefore, our future. This isn’t rocket science, it’s common sense.
Good luck, thank you for writing this, and more importantly, demand that they visit your school. They can spin talk, but they can’t deny facts.
Very good letter Steve, I feel as though this letter could be representative of of almost all small school districts or small governments ( Town & County) in upstate NY. It seems as though the Governor and our state legislators have gone down a path of intentionally trying to bankrupt smaller upstate entities. The 2% tax cap is a wonderful idea and extremely popular with the general public but with out substantial MANDATE RELIEF it is virtually impossible to maintain basic services for any length of time. I urge everyone to contact your State level officials and demand mandate relief in order to protect our services and to protect our property tax dollars.
I have a daughter that is a sophomore in BPCSD and I appreciate the effort the staff and administration have put forward to maintain programs, I only hope that her high school experience can afford her more opportunities than I had 30 years ago but with the current budgetary atmosphere, I fear that the bare minimum will be the only options remaining thanks to our Governor and legislature.
Hopefully our lobbyist for the students will listen if the voice gets loud enough.
As this is a wonderful letter sir, I do want to question why french might be cut but spanish is not. I know you are a busy man but if you could answer my question that would be wonderful
Thank you
Caity kowalski
Caity, thank you very much for your comment. As an educator, I’m proud of you for speaking up and taking an interest in the future of your school.
To answer your question, the decision to eliminate French is purely one of supply and demand: Year after year, more students elect to take Spanish than French.
Unfortunately, New York State law says that we only have to offer one foreign language. Already, most of the school districts in our region only have one foreign language offering — and those school districts that still offer more than one foreign langauge are facing having to reduce their offerings.
I was informed by my children about this letter written to the Governor. Decades ago we went to school as children and never once heard a word uttered about monetary problems with the school district. Its very disheartening that a seventh grader and a senior have to inform their parents about all the extracurricular activities and the courses that their school district is getting rid of because the funding from the state is not there. The letter you have written Governor Cuomo is very informative , and should be a role model for all schools who are suffering as we are to follow suit. I trust that your honesty and sincere desire to provide the best education possible for the BP District is considered by the Governor and that we may continue to educate our children to be leaders some day. Thank your for taking the time to write this very impressive, detailed, and sincere letter . I trust he will take into consideration all the information and do the best he can to help us in our time of need.
Stephen,
Your letter to the Governor was very informative and certainly spells out the dire situation faced by our district.
I really hope he reads your letter and takes seriously your invitation to send one of his representatives here to see what a quality district we have.
Hopefully others in the district will also write and keep the pressure on the political leaders.
Keep up the good work!
Penny Szumowski
As a former employee of BPCSD I have seen first hand the fraudulent activity that occurs in this school. I have watched teacher be forced to pass students who do not deserve to be passed just so they have higher ratings and use the “no child left behind” clause as an excuse. They hire family of family and teachers aides are teaching the class rooms while teachers have other obligations. There were no teachers aides for every class room at one point in time but this school district will rid teachers of jobs. I would never allow my children to be part of their corrupt education system. How dare The superintendent beg for funding when they were compensating the janitors in free cafeteria food. Shame on them! I would never vote for their budget for the ways they treat their employees and the lies they cover up!
As a concerned parent maybe you should let us know what they cover up!
As a parent of a child with special education needs that attends Broadalbin Perth Intermediate School, I’m very concerned. In your letter to the Governor you express that there will be cuts made in many areas of the general education setting. You fail to mention what cuts will be made when it comes to the students that require special education. There are many children attending Broadalbin Perth in a special education setting that will probably require some sort of special education throughout their student career. These students need this extra help/setting in order to succeed, any cuts made to the areas surrounding special education could be devastating to some that need it most. I’m a very active advocate for my child & will continue to do so. As I realize that you’re an advocate for all students within the walls of Broadalbin Perth, please remember the students with special education needs. As an alumnus of Broadalbin Perth Central School, I believe that I received the best education that one could have. With your help let’s insure that all of Broadalbin Perth students get the same.
Thanks very much!
Kim Arnold
Do to the crises that every state is facing, it is a shame that our past leaders at every level of Government (Federal,State and Local ) also Educational on all level’s have never had the intelligence to see a future that we have now come to live in. No one knew it would get this bad but we as a country have spent freely as fast as we get it. I have seen the government say spend it or lose it. With the states having to spend any excess they have on what it was intended for is not helping out the states as the excess could. If the Leaders of the last 30 years would have thought that all that is built now, will take money years from now to maintain, maybe this country would be better off and our kids would have a future as we was looking forward to growing up. We cannot change what has been done and it will take an act of GOD to fix what we need to do, but if someone doesn’t make a major statement as Stephen Tomlinson has then our present Leaders are going be deaf, dumb and blind to our needs and we all can be assured that we have not seen the worst yet. May the Governor see that the education system is in jeopardy of losing everything we have been a part of growing up. Let it be known there is no room for raises anywhere on the federal or state levels until the country and states are headed in the right direction for at least 2 years. We have a better chance of getting to the moon by bicycle than our elected officials ever making the right decisions.
How about this? All the teachers and administrators making over $50,000 a year give up 5% of their salerys. I would advise everyone to take a look at this website. http://seethroughny.net/payrolls/schools/
When you look at some of these salerys and know that in some classes the books are so limited that the students can’t bring them home, it should make you sick. Does anyone remember that are school was put on the New York State watch list. How did that happen? I think it was the special needs kids. Imagine your raise being based on how well your union representative negotiates your contract and having nothing to due with your performance or the current state of the economy. Please Governor, send us some more hard working taxpayer dollars so we can fix a problem that has been out of control for years. Local, state, or federal, It’s all taxpayers money. It is unfortunate that are kids will be ones to suffer for the bad decisions of others. The current state of America.
My apologies to those who still have the passion and are working hard.
As a student at BP middle school making all of them cuts is in a way bad. I know we have to do what we have to do to keep are school running but as a middle school student cutting art and those other classes that are not mandated by the state is going to make grades go down and kids are not going to enjoy school as much. Ill tell you my first four periods are core classes (science, ELA) then i have say tech or art. Honestly as a student so many kids look forward to that. I believe with out them our school will be a boring place that no one will want to go to.(My Opinion) Also cutting sports we are going to loose people who pay tuition to come to this school just to play sports. I believe you can not cut french. For a teacher who has been teaching for 20+ years they can cut it. And i am not just saying this to make your job miserable but i feel like i should voice my opinion.
Thank You
.”"I would really appreciate it if you give me a response and tell me what you think”".
Dear Concerned BPMS student:
First and foremost, I applaud you for taking a stand for what you believe in and for being brave enough to do so. Your parents should be very proud of you.
I agree with you that cutting classes that are not core subjects (math, english, social studies, science) such as art, music, technology, and foreign languages will be devastating to those students who look forward to attending those courses. When I was in middle school I was motivated to go to school because of the courses that we are now considering eliminating. Please know that the BOE and Leadership Team will continue to look for ways to decrease spending without hurting students at BP.
This year all schools in our region are faced with very difficult decisions on how to find ways to save money because we cannot raise taxes more than the NYS law allows for AND because state aid for BP has once again decreased. Broadalbin-Perth is not a “rich” district so we rely on receiving state aid to help pay for your education. Unfortunately, when state aid decreases we have to consider raising taxes to continue to offer great programs or begin reducing the great programs we offer. Starting next year we can’t raise taxes more than the limit allowed by the law. This situation has forced the BOE and Leadership Team to make VERY tough decisions on how to educate you and your friends the best way possible and within the laws set by NYS. For example, in the middle school BP is required to teach such courses as art, music, technology, and foreign language. I am very happy to tell you that we cannot eliminate those areas of instruction at the middle school. On the other hand, the state allows school districts such as BP to not have to teach art and music to the students in the TLC.
I also agree with you that cutting sports will be a bad thing for all children who attend school in Broadalbin-Perth. Participating in sports when I was your age helped keep me interested in school and made me want to come to school! I can assure you the BOE and Leadership Team are looking at every possible way to keep sports.
Lastly, the decision to phase out French instruction was not an easy one for me and the Leadership Team. We did a lot of research on what other schools in our area are doing so we weren’t being unfair to our students. You might be surprised that many other schools in our area have already eliminated teaching French as another option to a foreign language or will begin to as we are. It wouldn’t be fair for me to decide which subjects are more important than others, but I always do my research before making tough decisions and I believe offering two foreign language options when we are only required to offer one is a fair way to save money so we can help save programs such as the courses that you don’t want to lose. It is never easy for me to tell a teacher or other employee that we have to lay them off. That is the hardest part of my job, but it is my responsibility to make the tough decisions so the Broadalbin-Perth School District can continue to offer the best possible education for you and your friends.
I would like to meet you in person to help you better understand what I am trying to explain to you. Would you consider asking a couple of your friends to have lunch with me someday so we can continue this discussion?
I am very proud of you for asking the tough questions and for being honest with me. I look forward to hearing from you. My phone number is 954-2500. Please tell my secretary that you want to speak with me. I will tell her that you are my priority and to get me out of any meetings that I might be in.
Hi Mr Tomlinson!
I am wondering if Govener Cuomo wrote beck or if you even heard from any one else except Assemblyman Butler?
Thank You!
Brian Sanford
Im Sorry for my spelling errors i meant back.
I am struck by the reality of the situation that we find ourselves in, not just at BP, but across the state. This is not just our problem to deal with it is a statewide issue. I am concerned about my children’s future and hope that they will continue to recieve a quality education, but I am not sure that they will be able to do that no matter what school district they are in as the cuts by the governor are painful and run deep. Yes there are many teachers who sit back and collect their paychecks because they know that they are not going to lose their jobs, but there are many fantastic teachers that don’t deserve to be lumped in with the minority. I am not in favor of low quality teachers retaining their positions when there are great teachers that will be losing theirs, but we are not able to change that at this time. It is done and we have to work with what we have to give our children the best education possible. I am disappointed at the prospect of losing art and music as these are important opportunities for our children to find something that they are great at. Not all students will go on to be scientists- some will discover themselves through music and art. Sports are important as well to build character and teach our children how to win and lose. I believe that many things have led to where we are now. I have been through this before- as a student at Perth, and now I am watching my children go through the same tough times that I did 20+ years ago. I was a member of the first graduating class and I remember all of the optimism that was expressed for the students in years to come, it is one of the reasons that we returned with our children to this area when we had opportunities to put down roots elsewhere. We need to stand up and fight for our children and their educations because who else is going to do it. We need to get past the issues that we have no control over and start working on what we do have control over. We can’t rely on the state to help us, as they have shown that they just don’t care about us or our children, and we need to figure out how to survive and still give the students of BP a competitive education. Mr. Tomlinson, thank you for writing this letter and putting it all out in the open. I know that there are many that will scoff at this letter, but you have put it all out there for Gov. Cuomo to see- I just hope that those in our community will see it as well.
As a concerned taxpayer who is very pro foreign language I will tell you that a statement made earlier in these letters is not true. The numbers in this district in French have not been going down at all over the years!! Let’s get the facts straight. There have always been about 20 (or so) more students in the Spanish program overall than there have been in the French program. This is a testament to the strength of the French program seeing Spanish tends to be more popular in some districts. There has not been a decline at all and I don’t know where that is coming from. Check with the offices in the two sites to tell you the numbers! Furthermore the French program is exceptionally strong in this district. Do we really want to do way with that? The French students love French and many continue on through the college level programs. Additionally, foreign language is required by NYS in both 8th and 9th grades and higher, so it does not make sense that we can’t keep both languages??? You still need 2 or 3 teachers to teach all those levels that are mandated. So – one teaches 8th and 9th Spanish and one teaches 8th or 9th French and one (dually certified) teaches whichever language is needed at the upper levels (10th gr. for example). This is pure common sense.
Mr. Tomlinson – was this letter actually mailed to Gov. Cuomo or are you hoping he reads it on the webpage?
Dear Concerned Parent:
The letter to Governor Cuomo was mailed certified with return receipt requested. Essentially, one of his staff members had to sign for the letter and mail back the postcard to my office indicating the letter was received. I received confirmation that the letter was received on Friday, February 10th. Please remember there is no way of knowing if Govenor Cuomo actually held the letter in his hand as he has many layers of staff members working under him who read letters like mine for him.
I hope my response answers your question.
Dear mr. tomlinson, listen i understand that school has been losing money through the past few years but, sports are very important to me and many other students love sports. this past year the varsity boys won the state championship. the varsity girls went to divisions. my modified team went 9-2-1 beating scotia with a pk scored by danielle biggers who is a very talented player. i like her want to be a pro at soccer. tell me why we have to cut sports? why not other programs like band and arts? i have seen a decrease in these programs. PLEASE do something anything just to save broadalbin’s wonderful sports. you do not have to respond but please take into consideration u may lose many students because of the cut for sports. i myself will go to another school because i would like a scholarship for soccer to get into college. Please anything just consider other things sports are important i thank you for reading this
Sincerely, BPMS soccer player
Mr. Tomlinson,
As a former graduate of BPHS, I have many good things to say about this school. It’s been a huge part of my life in every way. I was a three sport athlete, a member of several clubs, and a participant in several honors and college courses. However, it’s hard for me to take all of this in. Something’s gotta give, and I’ve learned enough to know that it can be salary’s. Yours, other administrators, and many teachers salaries are very capable of being cut. I’m sure the entire community would agree that this is possible and I’m sure that everyone would still be able to live comfortably. If we’re so desperate here in BP, I’m sure all of the faculty and staff should give a little to help sort things out. Do not jeopardize the students on behalf of the faculty. Also, as far as deciding who to take from, why don’t you ask the students how they feel about their teachers? At my college, we’re currently hiring several more professors, and the biggest portion of the decision makers are the students. I don’t care how long they’ve been there or how popular they are, every single outsider needs to understand that we have teachers at BP that should not be teaching. I can think back and honestly say that I’ve had some very bad experiences with some of the faculty. There has to be something that they can do. Another point that I’m concerned about is the class size. When I was there, they very small and they were not being adjusted. Class sizes should be increased immensely and teachers should be taking on more students. How are we suopposed to prepare high schoolers for college where they’re going from a class of 15 kids to a lecture hall of 150? It was a rude akening for me. This won’t hurt the teachers, or the students. We all have to make sacrifices.The community is up in arms and it’s turning into an extremely hostile environment instead of the friendly one we used to have. When I come home now, the district is a very sore subject and it’s a shame. I don’t care what you have to do, please find a way to make my 8th grade sister’s high school experience a positive one. This is your job. Actions need to be taken, and they need to be taken now. It’s upsetting that we’ve become this desperate and I really hope this issue gets resolved quickly. I don’t know how it got this bad, but it did, and it’s obviously going downhill fast if we’ve resorted to letters like these. Thank you for accepting my comments and concerns.
Dear Recent BP Graduate:
Thank you for voicing your concerns with the current state of the district. Please consider coming to my office to meet with me to discuss possible solutions that may bring brighter days for your sister and all BP students.
I will make myself available at your convenience. Once again, thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Excuse my spelling error, I meant “It was a rude awakening..” when discussing the transition to very large classes.
Dear Mr. Tomlinson,
I do understand that our school has been having trouble with money for the past years but i don’t understand why sports are being cut. Most kids aren’t the best in book smart but when their out on field or track, they just excel. This year, the Board of Education has agreed on having an indoor track team. As a member of the indoor team, ive done many fundraisers to raise money so we can keep this on the budget but then two months later that all sports are getting cut? I dont really understand. I have talk with other students who also play sports and they say that its one reason to actual get up in the morning and are willing to go to practice later that day. The feeling of wining makes every one on that team feel like they done something good and I myself do not want to lose that feeling because its a great feeling. Also for kids that dont do sports but they excel in art or tech and even music, the feeling that they have a class that they can an easy A in that class is like winning a game or meet. Also being a French student, i don’t not think french should be cut. French and Spanish relate to each other so why cant you have both? French relates a lot to English believe it or not, learning other words that are the same definition as your regular day word (ex. Writing). I myself was looking forward to taking French in high school and getting to know french like i grew up in France. I know that i’m asking a lot but just reply back to me about this. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to read this little letter.
Thank You,
BPMS Athlete/ French Student
In the past seven years in this school district I have seen many up and downs , and unfortunately the downs seem to be something that keeps happening lately . I moved to this area 9 years ago for a change for my child and had always admired the care and compassion people had in this district and the community as well. There are some of the educators here that give it there all and seeing my child excel proves it. I would hate to see the value of education be lost in this district that has so many valuable young men and women that are our people of tomorrow .
Punishing the student is what you are doing . I believe that there were many things hidden with our spending that has led us to where we are today. Trying to make us more elite than what we needed to be , a terrible waste of money for the field that is not even respected by everyone. I see what people due there and no one stops it. Holes in the field and track already and not even repaired
As far as Mr. Tomlinson saying that he would love to sit down and talk with some of you , do not hold your breath I know several parents that he has never returned a phone call or email to and that is not how you keep us together. My child is a great student and enjoys sports but now upset by the fact that there will be nothing at the school for them to finish the last 2 years out with .
This is a great community that deserves to have it kept that way and everything that can be done by the board and administrators to keep us like that should be done, and we as parents should be involved to the fullest and make it happen. If we keep going the way we are more and more families will move out and make it more difficult than it already is.
Thank you Mr. Tomlinson for writing this important letter to our Governor. It was very well said and conveyed the very personal realities of how this financial crisis will impact our children. I feel that sometimes, even the most well-intentioned politicians make decisions from a very distant point of view, unable to realize the impact their decisions will have on our students. I understand that tough decisions need to be made by our government on how to responsibly use our limited resources in these tough economic times. But we need to let our representatives know that education is too important to the future of our students to make such vast cuts. The decisions at the state level will ultimately put you and our BOE in the unfortunate position of making hard choices for our district. As a parent of children in the district, I find it extremely frustrating that we find ourselves in this predicament year after year. I hope the community recognizes the urgency of this situation, that we all become as informed as we can about the budget and then support the hard work of our board by approving it. At the same time, that clearly is just the beginning. We need our local representatives to hear our concerns so hopefully, they can make a difference in the future. Thanks again to you, the faculty and staff of BP for your dedication to our children’s education.
Why do we blame it on the State? Why do we keep going back to the State for help? Especially if the money is not there. The State is broke people!! You can’t get blood out of a stone. How come the administrators did not see what many have seen coming for years? If they have, we would be in a better situation. Why have they not planned for this and don’t say they did otherwise we would not be in this “huge” mess. Don’t blame it on the State. Blame it on the BP administration. They are suppose to be running this school like a business but Mr. Tomlinson and Mr. Zumblo are not doing a very good job with this. How many times can we keep increasing taxes and threaten to take away sports and other nescessary elements of education to develop our children. What is the mission of the school….I would assume to educate the students and not the careers of faculty. However, we keep increasing salaries and benefits which is the biggest cost to the school. A normal business would not do that. I don’t care what the laws or unions say. Tell them we “can’t” increase salaries and we need to reduce benefits to survive as a District!!! These demands would allow us to keep more teachers and programs at the school with alot less increases in the budget. Other schools are struggling, yes, but there are other schools that are making it with right moves and proper planning. We just did not have the right people in the administration who have real life business knowledge or foresight. Now we have another teacher’s contract being negotiated, the Board and Administration need to step to the plate and stop the bleeding. Let’s see how this all goes.
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I dont know about other kids in my grade, but French is the only class that i walk into with a smile on my face. I do realize there are other schools who just have one foreign language, no band or art. I believe it is an important aspect in mine and others education. I know people, just because of french they want to be a french teacher or have pictures and posters of Paris in their bedrooms.(That includes me) Band is next, i have been playing in band since the 4th grade. In the time i learned how to play two different instruments and have gained much more confidence, in myself and in the way i play. Art is the only chance during school we can express our feelings and be creative. I do respect your final choice and realize why these subjects might be cut.
Thank you for your time
All of these cuts and still room for a 4% raise for you. It’s not the tough questions, it’s the tough answers. My question for you. Is it true that the board put in for a raise for you? I would like you to explain how you can cut programs from your students while being rewarded with a raise. You yourself said this is a poor community. Just not for you. The school board president justified it by saying we would have to hire someone elese for more money. Have any of you been living in the real world? There are plenty of people looking for jobs. Supply and demand. No need to pay large wages when you have a large supply of people looking for work. Please feel free to answer these questions and comment on this website for all to read.
Where are you Mr.Tomlinson? Where are you? No word yet.
I get really upset when I hear some modified sports and French are going to get cut and I am sure other kids are too. I’m really thrilled to go to French everyday even if we have a test because it makes me feel happy. Also, I absolutely love softball and I am really hoping to play this year but if sports get cut out of the budget then I would probably flip out. Pleeeeeeaaaaaaase do something!
Thank You,
Concerned BPMS Student
I know that many students and parents and teachers might be worried that the school is going to cut some courses. I suggest that they keep sports, band and art. Art is the only time of the day that I can let go and express my feelings how ever I am probably going to be mad when they cut some thing but I’ll get over that, the people who are going to cry about it but they are probably going to get over in a year or so but they’ll get over it as soon as i do.
(The translation in french so people do know that french is important)Je sais que de nombreux élèves et les parents et les enseignants pourraient être inquiets que l’école va couper certains cours. Je suggère qu’ils gardent le sport, la bande et de l’art. L’art est le seul moment de la journée que je peux laisser aller et comment exprimer mes sentiments jamais je vais probablement être fou quand ils ont coupé quelque chose, mais je vais faire là-dessus, les gens qui vont pleurer sur mon sort, mais ils vont probablement se remettre dans un an ou deux, mais ils s’en remettra dès que je fais.
I am a former student in this district and I can tell you that I use French often. Maybe I don’t speak it all the time but I did continue it through college and have done very well. The French teachers in the BP district are the best and they make us want to learn. Please do not take that away. I was trained by them to look into a word and find it’s meaning through French. For example – in the medical field any disease starting with “os” must relate to the bones as “os” is the French word for bones. It does not make sense to cut a class like French which is in desire.
Since it is data that currently interests administrators, politicians and parents, please note the following. Enrollment in French has remained consistent over the past 11 years at the High School and Middle School. Also, in the past 10 years, only 1 French student has failed the French Regents Exam. For many years, there has been a 100% passing rate on the French Proficiency exam given at the end of 8th grade. From the data, we can safely say that Broadalbin-Perth CSD will be eliminating its most successful program in terms of student passing rates on a state test. If teachers have to be evaluated on the scores that their students obtain on tests, what does this data tell us about the quality of the teachers involved? In addition, BP school counselors and students who have applied to colleges repeatedly say that good colleges want to see students take 4 or more years of foreign language. The argument that many other schools in the area are eliminating French and therefore, so should we, does not make sense. “Just because everyone else is doing it” is not a good reason to make any decision. Please reconsider your decision to eliminate the French program.
I have one question about sports. I’ve played youth commission softball, since i was 7. I was wondering, if modified sports get cut does travel and youth commision get cut too? Youth commision is a great program, and softball isnt the only sport I’ve played for youth commision. I did soccer for a couple years and basketball for a year. There are alot of people that play sports in our school, and i dont think any of those people want sports to get cut.
In my opinion, we have lost focus on the very fundamental reason we have an education system. That reason is to provide the most diverse, leading edge and highest standard education possible for children. Are we accomplishing that? Can we accomplish that through cutting everything but the “core” curriculum? The so called “extra” curriculars (sports, clubs, etc.) and extended course offerings (languages, advanced classes and fine arts) are a very important part of providing a well rounded education that prepares our students for the real world. Many valuable life lessons are taught through these opportunities such as team work and socialization skills. Should we be cutting in these areas to honor over inflated contractual agreements or should we be re-evaluating the contracts themselves? After all, the purpose of the education system is to educate for the future, not facilitate career paths for today.
At one of the community forums a couple of years ago, I proposed the idea of contract re-negotiations as the current ones were unsustainable over the long term. I was asked by an employee of the education system proctoring our group if I thought it was possible to take something away after it was already given. Isn’t that what we are doing to today’s and future students everytime we cut a progam?
Where does the answer lie? I don’t believe throwing more money at the issues will solve anything. Taxpayers are already tapped out. Infact, tax increases go to sustain contractual agreements, not for expanding programs for the students or even maintaing ones in place. If we were able to persuade our representatives and govenor for increased funding, exactly where would the resources for that come from? I’d suspect through increased income and sales tax, something almost all of us already pay enough of.
Drastic changes have to occurr with the compensation schedule for educators. More responsibility for retirement and health costs have to be placed on the employees rather than the community and students. Some have presented that without lush compensation we would not be getting the highest quality educators. I argue, given today’s economic situation, we would infact attract and retain those that are truely committed to education and thus driven by their passion for their chosen career rather than the promise of extravagant compensation.
Unions advocate for the best interests of their constituants. We as a community must unite and focus on the very basis we have an education system and advocate for the students and our future.
At the last board meeting it was stated that French is not “relevant”. I would ask – how many things do we learn in school that don’t seem to have relevance in our lives until we get out in the real world. Students at the
middle school and high school levels do not generally know what they will be doing later in life, so they don’t know what will be relevant. What we teach them in school is to be well-rounded, to learn about lots of things so that they can choose what area they want to go into. A good foreign language teacher MAKES the material relevant to the lives of the students. They discuss local restaurants, articles in newspapers, magazine and T.V. ads, words that are similar in both languages, products that you purchase, songs with lyrics in the foreign language, sports starts and their nationalities, etc.
Any subject is relevant if it is shown how and where it can found in their daily lives.
I have some concerns about the cutting of french. French, is a great program, and I am looking forward to taking it in the high school. Also, French is very useful in our lives. Almost everything you see(construction paper to strawberries) are labeled in french, as well as english. Also, french is the highlight of my day. It is one of the reasons why I like going to school. Our French teacher, makes french fun, for all of us. I am usually quiet in french, but see how much fun a lot of the other kids are having, and it does put a smile on my face. Lastly, when some of us are in our 20′s or 30′s, we may live outside of the United States. Please reply to this and tell me what you think,
Merci!(Thank you in French)