Jordan Independent - School Board - Comments

I agree with you, GG. I

bucky — Thu, 01 May 2008 10:33:18 -0500

I agree with you, GG. I wonder how much fund raising our kids do? Maybe some sort of joint venture with the business classes at JHS and the activities departments, to create a district sporting goods store? (Maybe we have one now and I'm just out of the loop) With 'volunteer student' and part-time labor, maybe we could create another $50,000 or more a year. Every little bit helps, and I know we would see a sea of maroon in both the schools and the community.

And again I think if the price per activity were to jump, combined with the fund-raising, we could shave a great deal from that deficit.

In the school district I

goldengopher — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:57:11 -0500

In the school district I work for (which is similar to the size of Jordan) the total activity budget expenses run about $400,000 a year. The revenue for the year brings in $100,000.

I love sports as well and see a lot of value in them. However, $300,000 in the red is a lot of money.

I grew up in a small school

bucky — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 09:52:24 -0500

I grew up in a small school (K-12 enrollment 130) among small schools. As costs went up, so did the cost of participating in sports and other electives.

I can't believe we would cut education programs instead of adding costs to athletics.

Our children need a solid academic foundation from which to build their intellectual character if they hope to have any chance of success beyond the walls of JHS.

Before you toss me off as anti-athletics, understand I am a former 3-sport athlete. My parents had no money to pay for sports so I earned my own fees. If I had to rake more lawns or paint more houses in order to get my fees paid, I would still have been a 3-sport athlete.

Kids will pay. They pay $100 for blue jeans, $400 for video games and $50 a month for unlimited text messaging--I think they would take on more cost to take part in electives.

David Hanson

How sad that someone would

swansonmej — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:22:41 -0500

How sad that someone would steal and torture an animal! Why would he think it was okay to kill someone's pet? Pets are members of the family.

I hope this man is punished severely.

My heart goes out to the family that lost their pet.

The school board will meet

Brandon — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:58:07 -0500

The school board will meet to discuss the proposed cuts at 7:30 p.m. April 28, not April 21 as originally reported in this story and as printed in Thursday’s paper. A correction has been posted here: http://www.jordannews.com/news/corrections/correction-school-board-budge....

I care but don't always

swansonmej — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:17:34 -0500

I care but don't always choose to comment on this website.

I think all children should be able to attend all day kindergarten without the parents worrying about being able to pay for it.

I would rather see my tax dollars go towards education of K-12 than other things that benefit few people. Educating young people is an investment in the future that none of us should take for granted.

Crash716, I respect your

Mathias Baden — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:38:25 -0500

Crash716, I respect your opinion. Thanks.

(Mathias Baden is the editor of the Jordan Independent. He can be reached at editor@jordannews.com.)

The all-day increase was

crash716 — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 06:32:36 -0500

The all-day increase was voted on and put into effect back in January of this year. This is April. Semantics-schemantics! The way it was worded is suggestive of a current proposal for the board to take an increase. And, the poll was posted AFTER the board agreed to REDUCE that pay on Monday, 4/7/08.

R. W. Johnson AND, 70 years

bigbobbob — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:51:16 -0500

R. W. Johnson AND, 70 years ago, gasoline sold for $.199/gallon (5.2 Gallons for a buck), hamburger 10 cents/pound, and soup bones free. My Dad made $0.68/hr as a RR Depot agent and darn glad to have the job.

An increase in all-day pay

Mathias Baden — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:14:51 -0500

An increase in all-day pay is a pay raise. The poll suggests only that the cost of the school board doing business could increase at the same time as the board cuts programs or raises fees.

The argument about whether or not new increases are proposed is semantics. With all due respect to your opinion about the wording of the poll (most any poll ought to be taken with a grain of salt -- Jesse Ventura taught us that), I highly doubt that anyone would change the way they voted if the poll question said, "Should school board members have given themselves a pay raise?"

Please remember that polls on this Web site are meant to be conversation starters, not scientific studies. Also, feel free to start your own forum with questions you would like to ask the public.

(Mathias Baden is the editor of the Jordan Independent. He can be reached at editor@jordannews.com.)

R. W. Johnson DON'T NOBODY

bigbobbob — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:03:32 -0500

R. W. Johnson

DON'T NOBODY CARE ABOUT SCHOOLS? If this is not important, high priority, tell me what is!

R. W. Johnson Many

bigbobbob — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 15:13:55 -0500

R. W. Johnson
Many (including me) think the best path to a college education starts in kindergarden. Habits, at this impressionable age, stick around and it is difficult to find a way the school district (or the city/county) could better allocate funds from the richest country in the world than to provide a good school system, starting in kindergarden. The right choice is made where I live. You can probably send 4 (or more) children to kindergarden for a year for what the cost of incfarceration of one person is per year. And, kindergardeners graduate each year. Sounds like a good deal to me.

Where is this question

crash716 — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:13:18 -0500

Where is this question coming from? The school board is NOT proposing a raise for themselves. They did not take a pay increase for their regular meetings this year; or last year for that matter. The only increase they took back in January was all-day pay which applies when they are required to take a full day off their regular jobs to perform school business. That pay had not been increased in many years. There are no "new" increases being considered for the board. In fact, last night at the public budget reduction committee meeting they agreed to reduce the all-day pay to whatever their actual losses from their jobs are up to a cap of $225/day. Please, if you're going to post a poll of this nature on a public web site, then at least explain what you're asking to the public rather than blindly posting a question that doesn't even apply, which appears to be quite suggestive. There are many reductions actually being considered and the board would like to hear from the public.

The suggested cuts the

crash716 — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 14:16:52 -0500

The suggested cuts the committee is mulling over are all across the board. There are some in each school and several that affect all 3 schools. But remember, at this point these are all just suggestions. The committee is still working at prioritizing them in order to determine the cuts that will least affect the kids. I can't imagine any one school being favored over the other. I'm sure the middle school will not escape unscathed.

I have heard of numerous

Jason Allen — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 08:25:21 -0500

I have heard of numerous cuts that would happen in the Elementary School and also the High School, but have not heard much about the Middle School.

I also agree that the Administration has to really stay a part of the school system. They are already short and are doing a good job.

To cut $500,000 70 $650,000 you need to start with what takes most of the budget and that happens to be teachers at right around $50,000 a year with benefits, that's what has to go. Sorry to say that.