WORTHINGTON -- District 518 is continuing to address financial changes for the 2006-2007 school year. The budget reductions that are being discussed should be defined over the next couple of months at the regular school board meetings in March and April. The March board meeting has been set for the 28th, rather than the regularly scheduled meeting on the 21st. This is due to the district scheduling another public meeting for 7 p.m. March 20 in the high school cafeteria.
The purpose of the public meeting is to address the questions that were presented from the groups at the first public meeting and to gather further input on the possible reductions for the upcoming school year. The structure of the meeting will be somewhat similar, with hopefully a few changes to address specific reductions. The first 20 minutes of the meeting will be presentations by the board members, answering the questions from the last meeting. The next 20 minutes will be prioritizing reductions for the 2006-2007 school year. The third 20 minutes will be prioritizing the 2007-2008 possible reductions, and the last 15 minutes will be a summary of the meeting. Board members and administrators will be present to assist the small groups in their discussion as well as answer specific questions.
The meeting is being held for further input into the possible budget decisions that must be made in the next month as well as to answer the questions from the previous meeting. The goal of District 518 is to provide clarification on some of the perceptions that may exist in areas such as transportation, programs, staffing and so on. Likewise, District 518 is working to include the community in the decisions that may have lasting effects on the quality of education.
An important piece that we all need to think about is: What do we want our school system to be in the future? What do we want our school system to look like in the future? Do we want our school system to be a leader or a follower? These as well as many more questions need to drive the decisions for the future direction of District 518. What role would you like to play in continuing to provide a quality educational system in District 518?
As one of the many sayings goes "I chose to be a part of the solution rather than a part of the problem." So choose to get out and support public education. Help set the direction for many positive years and build a strong future for the students of our communities.
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John Landgaard serves as superintendent of District 518 Schools.
