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Keeping our focus in these critical times
How do we make up for millions of dollars in lost state
aid during these hard economic times?
What is the best system for enrolling students in our new
middle school configuration?
Which of the important priorities in our strategic plan
do we tackle first?
There always are difficult decisions to be made when you
are charged with the education and well-being of thousands of children
and teen-agers. This year, there are challenges for us on every front as
we continue to focus on our future amid the worst fiscal crisis our
state and nation have faced in decades.
How easy it can be to get distracted by a program’s cost
or an administrative process.
Yet, though the bottom line may seem daunting when it is
counted in dollars and cents, there is only one bottom line that matters
to us in the end.
What is best for our students?
That question always is front and center. It guides us
and ensures that we maintain the right focus in our planning.
We are pleased to have arrived at a final decision on
middle
school enrollment for 2009-10. It was a demanding process, most
especially for the 30 volunteers on our Middle School Enrollment
Planning Committee.
The importance of the decision before them, the
information they were required to digest and the critiques they were
required to absorb made the process trying at times. The committee
brought forward two solid options to me and the Board of Education that
both were united in one goal – to implement the most equitable system
for all of our students.
The committee members never lost track of our one
essential question, nor did our administrators and the board.
The process was similar throughout our
strategic planning process. The conversations and the decisions
sometimes were hard, but everyone involved maintained a steadfast focus
on our students.
The end result was an excellent blueprint for our
district’s growth over the next 3-5 years. The strategic plan will guide
us toward the best solutions for our schools because it was developed
with the right purpose in mind.
Now we are in the middle of the most difficult
budget
development process in memory. How do school districts statewide
balance grim financial realities with the duty to educate and nurture
the young people of our communities?
It is an especially difficult task for high-needs
districts like ours.
I assure you we will make our budget decisions based on
the critical task of maintaining an environment of constant improvement
for our students. We will be forced to make hard choices, but in the end
we will make those choices focused squarely on our bottom line.
What is best for our students?
Eva C. Joseph, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
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