Dear Parents and Families,
We’ve had a couple exciting events at FCS since my last newsletter. On Friday, January 14th, we held our third school-wide celebration recognizing our students for following our HR3 expectations. We had a blast sledding outside, dancing to the Wii in the gym, and enjoying hot cocoa in our classrooms. Thank you to all of you who dropped off and picked up extra sleds! It is greatly appreciated.
Last Friday, we had a school-wide assembly. The fine arts program from BFA-St. Albans came to Fairfield and performed for us. We were treated to several upbeat pieces by the jazz band, outstanding songs by the choir and beautiful dances from the BFA dance troupe. Our kids were entranced, and their behavior during the assembly was impeccable. We were very, very proud of them.
FY12 School Budget News: The board has been working hard to build a responsible budget to present to Fairfield on Town Meeting Day. To keep all programs and staffing intact for FY12 would have represented a 4.5% increase in the school budget. The school board asked for reductions to get as close to level funding as we could with the least amount of negative impact to students as possible. This is always a difficult balance to strike when building a budget, because as we know, we are not rich in resources, and could most certainly benefit from more. However, given the economic realities, the board is working to present a budget that taxpayers can support and that will continue to move student learning outcomes forward at FCS. Given that context, I have proposed reductions, and the board is considering the following changes for the FY12 budget:
Reduce paraprofessional staff by 3 positions
Reduce the library media position by .20
Eliminate the high school bus transportation to BFA- St. Albans
Addition of a .20 foreign language teacher
These changes to the FY12 budget reflect a 2.75% increase from the FY11 approved budget. To bring a level education spending budget to voters would mean more than $42,000 in additional reductions to programs which I believe would have a negative impact on our school in terms of increasing class sizes or decreasing other instructional opportunities currently offered at FCS. The School Board will be meeting again on Monday, January 24th to discuss the FY12 budget. Please come if you have questions or input to give to this important process. You can also contact me, or any of the school board members directly by phone or email. Their contact info is as follows:
Mike Malone, School Board Chair: mmalone@fcsuvt.org 524-9035
Mike L’Esperance, Vice Chair-Person: mlesperance@fcsuvt.org 527-2917
Kenderlyn Phelps, Secretary: kphelps@fcsuvt.org 827-3699
Bennett Dawson, Member: bdawson@fcsuvt.org 827-3101
Barry Fauteux, Member: bfauteux@fcsuvt.org 827-6543
Progress reports: Progress reports for second trimester should be sent home by Tuesday, January 25th. Please contact your child’s classroom teacher if you have any questions about your child’s progress. We will be holding “spring” parent-teacher conferences after school on Wednesday, March 16th, and during the day on Friday, March 18th. More information will be forthcoming regarding conferences.
Important date: Friday, February 4th, 2011: No School Teacher In-Service Day
Sincerely,
Jennifer Wood
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