Update from Special Budget Workshop Meeting

Tuesday, June 7^th, the Citrus County School Board met for a special budget workshop.  A major topic of this workshop was funding  the Paraprofessional Teacher Aides for the 2011-2012 school year.  The workshop was attended by nearly all of  our school principals.   Each grade level  (elementary, middle, and high school ) was represented by at least one principal who presented information about student grades, test scores, class schedules and other school data in order to  provide the board with  a clear indication of the use of these aides.  These presentations  allowed board members the  opportunity to ask questions about how aides are utilized and discuss how other programs  might be affected by a reduction in the budget.   Ken Blocker, Executive Director of Business Services, shared that our district would be receiving two additional grants for next school year totaling approximately $450,000.  Mr. Blocker indicated that funding one aide at each school would cost approximately $300,000.  Because this was a workshop, no official vote was taken about the funding of aides but a majority of the board indicated they were in favor of  using the onetime grant monies  for a one year “term” for funding one aide at each school.

Other school budget concerns and items were discussed at the meeting but board members felt more information was need before moving forward. I will continue to keep you informed about the difficult decisions we are facing this month.

Our next school board meeting is this Tuesday, June 15^th, 2011, at 4:00pm.

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