Latest Budget Updates: A Framework for Engagement

I hope you all had a great winter break and are settling back into the school routine.

A number of changes to district leadership occurred right before the break, as I'm sure many of you know. The media narrative is overwhelmingly negative right now, and while that's somewhat understandable, I feel compelled to reach out to our community with a ground-level view of where things stand right now, and to urge action over despair. Here are the main points:

The scenario presented by Superintendent Saddler was approved by the Board in December. This is decidedly not a detailed plan, but does offer targets in a number of areas.

This month, the district is tasked with outlining specific cuts and presenting those to the board and community, especially those around staffing cuts and layoffs both at the central office and school sites.

The board has not yet set a date to vote on specific plans, as the planning process is ongoing, but it is generally assumed there will be some sort of presentation and vote in either late January or early February at the latest.

There is an iron-clad legal requirement to send notice to folks who will be losing their jobs by mid-March, and so this is the top priority for planning as I'm reading it.

Since the break started, I've engaged in a lot of research and consolidation of the factual knowledge that I have to try and find a way to make some call to action that is meaningful here. This resulted in a working document that I'm calling a Framework for Parent Engagement. It was created with this in mind:

The one entity that has yet to exercise its huge influence on this process is the parent/caregiver community. I don't believe it's too late for that to happen, so I've tried to summarize resources into focus areas to help facilitate that influence.

While this will continue to evolve, I'd love to hear feedback on it, as I'm looking to share it with the wider community. I want everyone to understand that while it is certainly chaotic, frustrating, and opaque, there is a process at hand here to come up with detailed, drastic cuts that will close the budget gap. It is happening right now at the district offices, and without the influence of our parent community, I fear we will be on the outside looking in as these decisions roll out.

I honestly continue to believe there is a true opportunity for us to collaborate in the process instead of passively waiting to be told what is and isn't important enough to preserve here. The only way to do that is if we become experts in the knowledge we need to engage, and have a fully-informed set of folks ready to ask (and answer) questions and offer real, actionable insight to the powers that be.

Thanks in advance for your participation! Feel free to share the document with anyone, and email me with feedback if you have it.

Last note — we have a number of public meetings coming up where you can participate:

Tonight, 1/12 6pm — the Community Advisory Committee's public meeting (Special Education Focus)

Wednesday, 1/14 5:30pm — School Board Meeting (No votes scheduled, watch for the Superintendent's report)

Likely at least 1 more Board Meeting (probably 2 — check the calendar as it evolves)

Various Subcommittee meetings, and the public PSAC committee TBD