For this blog, I would like to take the time to respond to one of the comments left by Future Math Teacher who was concerned, and rightfully so, with the budget cuts on sports and the busing fees proposed by JUSD. One of the questions left in the comment was in regards to “what [the] school district plans to do about the budget cuts in sports, [and] are they cutting all sports?” A truncated answer to this question is no. They are not proposing cutting all sports programs at this time.
The outlook on freshman sports, however, is a gloomy one as “Jurupa Unified must cut $4.2 million [in] this budget year” (Barnes). And as such, superintendent of JUSD Elliot Duchon, warned that “the budget may get worse” (Barnes). All of this is in light of the fact that the recent American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s exact money allocations have yet to trickle down to the state’s district levels (Barnes). Thus, JUSD is reluctant to give exact details as to which programs will be cut; however, the supposition rests on the notion that there will be drastic changes at many levels throughout the district even when the funding trickles down. Nothing, unfortunately, will be set in stone until JUSD receives their share of the “$106 billion from the stimulus package” (Song).
The cuts and increases proposed relative to sports and busing are as follows:
• “Eliminate 12 high school assistant coaching positions, from 118 to 106, saving $36,173” – which means that freshman sports will probably be cut (Barnes).
• “The bus fee plan calls for families to pay $250 a year for the first child to ride a school bus, $175 for the second child, $125 for the third and $75 for each child after that” (Stokley).
References:
Barnes, David. "Schools Face Another $14.3 Million in Cuts." The Riverside County Record [Jurupa] 19 Feb. 2009, 37th ed.
Song, Jason. “Nation's schools would get $106 billion from federal economic stimulus package.” The Los Angeles Times. 13. Feb. 2009.
Stokley, Sandra. “Jurupa Unified board votes to send teacher layoff notices and charge bus fees.” The Press Enterprise [Jurupa] 17 Feb. 2009.
Our Choice
17 years ago
It is hard to believe that a community struggling to keep their homes would be charging bus fees. I drive around Jurupa and see so many home foreclosures. What happens to the people who cant afford those fees? Do they drop out of school? Do they walk miles to get there? I wonder what the statistics would be of high school drop outs once those fees are applied to busing...
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