Several thoughts on your budget comments:
Full day kindergarten:
The school district will have to double the # of teachers. Now there are AM and PM classes. Also, we hear that the schools are bursting. How will that small amt. of construction costs add all the needed space for full time K.
Grants:
Did you know that when a grant is obtained for a program, the grant funding has a limited life, say 1 or 2 years. When the grant runs out, does the program go away? No, it becomes a permanent part of the budget, which we now have to fund forever. And it also becomes part of the contingency budget. Why when the dollars run out is the program not cut? And why does it become part of the contingency budget? When I asked the superintendent about this, he said that the grants are “seed money”. What’s the point of bragging about all the grants the district gets when it’s only a way to build in future expenditures that we cannot vote on.
If you watch the videos on
If you watch the videos on Channel 75 you will see this issue addressed.
The district will not double the number of teachers because some kids are already in full-day K programs. In fact, they do not intend to add any teachers at all, just some aides. I cannot speak to the issue of construction costs but you have a good point. The problem is that the district is not providing the public with a detailed plan. They just rattle of some figures and make unverifiable claims like there will be no significant change in the student/teacher ratio or that the is room in the school and so forth. By asking for details you are, in their view, becoming an unwelcome person.
The money from the state to pay for conversion to full-day K is not a grant but your point is well-taken. After the first year, the full cost of the full-day K program will be borne by the taxpayers. As I said, I also expect that the District will turn right around next year and seek to add more K teachers.
BTW, I wonder what the impact on local K programs in New Rochelle will be. I guess they will be severely hit by this and maybe even wiped out.