Faculty representing various schools within the Poudre School District met on Monday night to discuss and revise a plan that would support school choice and innovation programs within the district.
The proposed plan would give PSD $300,000 annually to be allocated among all the schools in order to support their funding for programs such as bilingual immersion, science programs, art programs and more.
The plan also designates categories for the funds, granting up to $100,000 to school wide programs, preschool through middle school and high schools. These funds would ultimately be used to implement innovative measures to improve the schools.
If the Board of Education approves, the funding would become available by the beginning of summer of 2011.
While the stages of innovation, the proposed structure in which schools would improve with the funds was warmly received, many of the teachers who were present disagreed with the structure of the actual funding plan, calling it “disproportional” and “rigid”.
“We just don’t know how many kids will actually be affected by this plan the way it is now,” said Deidre Sullivan, a member of the school board’s task force. “There isn’t a lot of equity here, and some schools may end up with more funding than others. There is no guarantee that every student will have a chance at a better facilities and programs.”
Other problems were mentioned, including the potential for schools to double-dip into the funding, as well as increasing tension and competition between schools.
A majority of attending members sought to revise the plan to get rid of the categories and simply reward schools from the $300,000 pool based on merit, as well as number of students among other factors. They also suggested that the funds be distributed by review committee via open application.
“Our goal is not so much to attract new students, but to improve the education of students in these schools now,” said community member John Lynn.
Very clear and concise, but this story is pretty dry (not your fault) and would benefit from some sort of visual--even a picture of the PSD logo or the building they meet in.
ReplyDeleteI really like that you got a teacher's perspective on this, because it gives the story a good balance. Also, whenever I have covered school board meetings with controversial items like budgets, it's hard to get teachers to comment on record because they don't want it to be seen by the wrong people - even if it's just for a class. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteThis is a good story and one that is very relevant for the times, seeing how education is suffering various budget cuts. Nice quotes!
ReplyDeleteVery clear cut and and concise, but I almost feel like it needs some more character. It is a board meeting that was probably ridiculously boring, but there must be some way to spice it up a bit.
ReplyDeleteOverall though, good job at getting the facts!
Very clear with good reporting on the events. As the other commenter's said it's pretty dry, but their isn't much you can do about that.
ReplyDeleteGood job getting multiple viewpoints from the community.
I appreciated the details on this and thought you did a good job of getting to a point in a meeting that might have not been the most exciting. I also think you balanced it well with different quotes. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI like your details and how you are direct and to the point. Good quotes, but your story could have benefited from a visual or something to break up the words.
ReplyDelete