The Painful Reality of School Budget Reductions
Across Bucks and Montgomery counties, reductions in funding from the Commonwealth are playing out in a variety of ways, all of them negatively impacting our students. Here's what it means for students in a sampling of districts in the region:
Hatboro-Horsham School District Projected Deficit = $447,687
Curtailment of programs such as music which has already been cut back
Furloughs of as many as 22 teachers, meaning larger class sizes
Lower Merion School District Projected Deficit = $304,306
Elimination of two administrative positions
Elimination of spending for special education placements outside of the district
Cuts in paraprofessionals for special needs students
Lower Moreland School District Projected Deficit = $179,820
Elimination of gym and consumer science teaching positions at the high school
MCIU23
Projected Deficit = $630,000
Some students who receive special services will be returning to their districts, resulting in furloughs for teachers
Reduction in the number of staff to support classrooms
Methacton School District Projected Deficit = $590,285
Cutting four teachers from the Title I program designed to meet the educational needs of low-achieving students
Reduction of four math specialists
Dramatic increases in class sizes resulting from the loss of a 7th and 8th grade team at Arcola Intermediate School and at least seven teachers
Possible loss of the planetarium program
Elimination of the family consumer science program in 6th grade
Reduction of the technology program to twice a cycle for 6th graders
Reduction in the number of bus runs from four to three
North Montco Technical Career Center
Projected Deficit is dependent upon cuts to schools that send students
Furlough of classroom teachers
Program materials will be reduced or eliminated
Significant increase in class sizes
Upper Moreland School District Projected Deficit = $440,479
Class sizes will be larger as a result of seven to eight teachers who are retiring and will not be replaced
Upper Perkiomen School District Projected Deficit = $1,016,838
Discontinuing family and consumer science in the high school and middle school
Elimination of the French program in the high school
Eliminating one high school reading specialist
Discontinuing metal shop in the middle school
Eliminating one elementary school librarian so that the remaining librarian splits her time between two schools
Elimination of four technology coaches, one in each building
Reduction of the middle school guidance counselor from a full-time to a part-time position
Reducing the high school physical education teacher from a full-time to a part-time position
Reducing the hours of one high school business teacher from full-time to part-time
Reducing the hours of two middle school teachers from full- to part-time
Planned additional cuts for 2012-2013 include elimination of all industrial arts in the middle school and high school, cutting full-day kindergarten and eliminating one assistant principal in the high school
View the UpperPerkiomen superintendent's two-year proposal
Learn more:
Perspectives on proposed solutions.
Find out more about what budget cuts mean to students.
See what budget cuts mean to funding in Bucks and Montgomery counties' school districts.
