Learning at ARPS
March 23, 2007
Dear Everyone Learning @ Amherst, Regional, and Pelham Schools:
The introduction to our planning and budget which follows is lengthy.
The short version about finances and the budget is:
* Known costs and fixed costs for FY08 exceed the 1% increase guideline by $1.4 million. This gap has and will fluctuate as we move away from estimates and projections and closer to known assumptions and real figures.
* After months of review, public meetings, and posting of data and information, a 1% budget (reflecting a 1% increase in assessments) has been developed and reviewed.
*The list of cuts and adds net a difference of approximately $1.4 million (this may change by March 27).
*Once budgets are approved, they can only be decreased, not increased. Therefore, we are proposing a higher percentage increase for the School Committees' approval.
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We find ourselves with a vision for the success of every child in the midst of dramatic change.
Some would liken our current situation (a scenario being played out in districts across the country) to the overused metaphor of the perfect storm. I see it as a period of necessary disequilibrium requiring scrutiny of all we do to insure that what emerges is fluid, focused, intentional and connected to every student's success.
The School Budget is one factor in this intertwined mission for success. Consequently, reminding us that the budget is a means to an end and that the budget is one of many forces at play, I offer the whole picture and context with the budget introduction in its necessary place.
Extenuating Circumstances of Revenues and Expenditures
For the past five years, the Amherst-Pelham schools have been contending with declining revenues from the federal government and the state. At the same time, we have seen staggering increases in health insurance and energy costs. While opinions may vary as to whether salary increases are adequate, insufficient, or large, we engage in good faith bargaining with employees, employees who are dedicated, talented, and on a mission. Consequently, we have made cuts into the millions of dollars, been aggressive in containing costs, implemented measures for efficiency in many areas, and asserted ourselves with the legislatures (federal and state). We are planning ahead while controlling spending and living within our means.
Raising the Academic Bar Even Higher
Earlier this week, I met with the Deputy Commissioner of Education, an associate commissioner, and two others from the Department of Education. The topic was our standardized test scores but the greater topic with them, and our efforts here, is: How do we complement the tremendous success we see with the vast majority of our students with comparable success for those not yet achieving at proficiency? How do we strike a balance between an "Amherst education" which is activity-based, experiential, hands-on, and intellectually rich (and still memorizing the times tables) with a curriculum that infuses rigorous academic standards. Consequently, we are writing k-12 curriculum frameworks, working toward consistency across the grades and schools, and working with even greater intensity to accelerate learning where necessary... all without "throwing the baby out with the bath water."
Regulations, Compliance, and Unfunded Mandates
Later this year, it will be our districts' turn to be scrutinized by the state with a Comprehensive Program Review. We welcome this analysis as we have been working feverishly at compliance issues, trainings for staff, and insuring the quality from policy to practice in dozens of areas related to special education and others. At the same time, this is a substantial change in our culture and how we work in Amherst-Pelham. Much of what will be reviewed entails assurance that we are complying with unfunded mandates.
The perfect storm?
The disequilibrium to balance?
We are amidst converging forces of 1) High academic standards balanced with an Amherst culture of education, 2) a continuous downward spiral of resources and revenue, and 3) an ever-increasing demand for compliance with regulation, unfunded mandates, and new layers of accountability. Peering through those forces, I can still see the child reading to his teacher, our stages filled to the rafters with students performing and equations on white-boards challenging more and more students every year. The challenge is navigating our way through.
What will it take to prevail?
A strong academic District continuous improvement plan, correlated with similarly rigorous School improvement plans, correlated with ambitious and creative teacher unit and lesson plans... all correlated to high standards in curriculum, instruction, and school climate... all correlated to plans for student success.
That part is easy!
What will it take to prevail?
A plan!
A simple, clear plan that offers stability and predictability. A plan that gets us through a few more difficult years with the ability to focus on teaching and learning, not politics and budget development. A plan that defines our means so we can (and will) live within them. A plan that puts a cap on spending that allows for longer-than-one-year planning, building of reserves, confidence, and time to study other revenue generating issues and efficiencies. A plan that will force us to work harder and smarter with room for flexibility and adjustments.
That part is easy!
What will it take to prevail?
Learning. Listening. Trust. Seeing the whole picture. Risk-taking. Flexibility. Patience. Clarity. Collaboration. Consensus. Communication.
That part is the hardest - but we will prevail!
Respectfully,
Jere Hochman
Superintendent
An Invitation from the Amherst Comprehensive Planning Committee
Planning Amherst Together Needs YOU and your friends on Thursday, March 29th!
Remember IDEA GATHERINGS--our community exercise for Amherst's comprehensive plan? (Over 500 participants generated over 3,300 ideas last fall during 10 town wide meetings!) In fact, you can explore all the original ideas online at
http://www.planningamhersttogether.org/IdeaMachine.aspx
For the 4 ½ months since then, 7 different volunteer Work Groups have been distilling, merging, squeezing, and marrying all 3,300 ideas into a set of concepts that we now need to test and massage so their influence on our Amherst Master Plan will be a valid reflection of our community's thinking and aspirations! That's where YOU come in!
We need you to be a part of our COMMUNITY CHOICES from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 29th in the Amherst High School Cafeteria. This is a 2-hour working session that will set the stage for the final shaping of our input to our consultants. After COMMUNITY CHOICES, they will begin to create text, layouts, graphics and three-dimensional models that give substance to our plans for Amherst during the next dozen or so years.
Legislative Action Committee
The Legislative Action Committee is up and running! A group of interested participants met for the first time on March 15 in an organizational session. Discussion centered around background information on the state and federal legislative process, contact information for legislators and important legislative committee chairs, and a few legislative topics of particular interest to schools. The group will meet again on Thursday, April 5 and Thursday, April 26 at 3:30 p.m. in the Middle School library. An additional meeting on an alternative weekday will also be scheduled for those who cannot attend on Thursdays. If you're interested in legislative action, you're invited to attend! For more information or to sign up for email updates, please reply to this email indicating your interest.
AGENDA for REGULAR Meeting of REGIONAL School Committee
7:00 PM, Tuesday March 27, 2007
High School Library
1. Welcome
A. Call to Order
B. Agenda Review
C. Minutes of March 13, 2007
2. Announcements and Public Comment
3. Superintendents Update
4. Unfinished/Continuing Business
A. FY08 Budget
o Vote to Approve Budget
o Vote to Approve Warrant Language
5. New Business
6. Reports
7. Sub-committee reports
8. School Committee Planning
Calendar review
Items for upcoming meetings
9. Adjourn