Flynn PTO Update 12/15/13

Hey There Flynn Families - Snow at last!  At least now it feels and looks like winter!  Budget hearings this week for the 2014-15 school budget.  See below for more info from Jeanne Collins.  Stay warm and safe travels if you are going away over break.  Kate B.


Holiday Assembly this Friday at 1:45-2ish.  Mr. Reynolds will play Holiday favorites and invite students, staff and families to join him in a sing along.  Also, a check will be given to Tom Fleury for the New North End Food Shelf.  It is not too late to make a donation to the Food Shelf!  Money donations can be sent in to the office until Friday morning.  Families are invited and encouraged to attend.

 

Budget Process and Hearing Date by Jeanne Collins

We are in the midst of the budget process this year and you may have noticed it is a bit different from year’s past. This year, we are attempting to build a budget that meets an overall financial goal of 6.9% increase over per equalized pupil spending, as well as meet program goals identified by the Board. Early on, in September, there was input by the community (you were all invited to give input in the survey), the administration and the Board that led to the decisions being made now. This budget is designed on the priorities that were set by the Board following that input. Budgets in the past have been presented as line item budgets, where certain positions are cut or added and the administration had to live within those parameters. In designing a budget set on goals, the administration has room to make adjustments as revenue changes are known along the way. For example, a budget discussion o kindergarten para-educators meant that those paras could not move to 1st grade with a large class, even though kindergarten might have been smaller the next year. This type of decision making limits the ability to flex with changing conditions and meet changing needs.
The Board has made commitments in the following areas:

• An aligned system leading to high achievement for all students
• 21st century, student centered learning in technology rich environments
• Restructuring for equity and diversity
• Maintain and upgrade facilities for safety, efficiency and accessibility

Priorities that guide this budget process, as determined by the Board are:

• Technology for the 21st century
• Developing a multi-tiered system of support
• BHS/Edmunds facilities planning for 21st century learning and accessibility
• Diversity & equity needs in professional development, recruitment and response to harassment
• Facilities & maintenance needs
• Professional Development for differentiation, ELL, high achievers and common core
• Teacher evaluation system for greater student outcomes

As always, there are choices to be made within a set of goals to provide the best outcomes for our students within our means. We cannot afford to add to this budget and have to reanalyze how we use current resources as well as determine what programs or functions we can no longer afford. This budget process gives some time for us to do that in an ever changing financial environment. In absorbing the current programs with compensation and health increases, we add over $3M to the current budget. We need to make up a $1.2M deficit that stems first from under budgeting a couple of years ago combined with cost shifts that occurred at the local and federal level. These expenditures combined put our budget above our financial goal and thus we need to determine what to do differently and what to stop doing.
Budget hearings this week will focus on the priorities- are they the right program priorities? Is the financial goal one this community can accept? If the answers are yes, they will guide our spending decisions going forward and set us on the path to have a budget that is aligned with our goals, rather than a budget that is volatile and unstable.
I hope you choose to participate in the hearings and learn more about the goals the district is seeking to achieve. The hearings are Monday, Dec. 16, 7pm @ BHS and Thursday Dec 19, 7pm @BHS.

Lost and Found items are piling up in the cafeteria....  Come on in and see if you can find that missing mitten, those warm winter boots that were "stolen!" or that coat that walked away on the playground - likelihood is that those items are in the pile...  We encourage you to label all your kid's clothes so that if they are found they can be returned!  In need of some warm stuff?  Come take a peek through the Outerwear Swap - there are plenty of warm things that are free, clean and in great shape.  The outerwear swap is located in the hall outside the cafeteria.


The Talent Show is coming!!!!!  Mark your calendar for 2/14/14 and make a Valentine's Date to come see the annual Talent Show at Flynn.  Sign-ups start next week so students can start their preparations during the Winter break.  Keep your eyes on the backpack for a permission slip.

Podcast: Natural Consequences

In this conversation with Vicki Hoefle, we talk about natural consequences.

The purpose of using natural consequences is to encourage children to make responsible decisions, not to force their submission. When a child makes a poor decision and the parents stay out of it, the child learns from the consequence, gains new information, and is in a position to choose differently the next time.

Listen in and let us know how natural consequences have been your child’s best teacher.

http://vickihoefle.com/podcast-natural-consequences/

Save the date...

December 16- School Budget Hearings - 7pm at BHS
December 19 - Principal's Coffee, 8:30am
December 19 - School Budget Hearings - 7pm at BHS
December 20 - Holiday Assembly/Donation to Food Pantry
December 23- January 1 - Winter Recess
January 3 - Permission slips go home for Tom Sawyer Grades 4/5
January 20 - No School - MLK Day