Retirement announcements at the Haldane School Board meeting Tuesday evening, February 15 include Elementary School principal Maggie Davis, Social Studies teacher Dennis Cairl and Spanish teacher Philip D'Amato. A retirement ceremony will take place at a Board of Education meeting in June. All are invited to attend.
In other business, to give the Board of Education some idea of how the funds are allocated for sports and physical education expenses, Athletic Director Tom Cunningham presented the athletic budget breakdown.
The approximately $302K budget includes coach stipends, equipment, referee fees, and most expenses except transportation. Board Vice President Joe Curto requested information about transportation costs, and Facilities Director Wayne Robinson reported that the average cost for transportation is about $291 per away game.
A parent asked whether Haldane would accept volunteer coaches. Superintendent Villanti explained that all coaches must meet the district certification requirements in order to serve as a coach, and he added that he has not turned down a qualified volunteer.
Lacrosse players, their parents and Coach Tom Locascio attended the meeting to ask the Board to consider adding an assistant coach to the Varsity team for safety reasons. Assistant coaches were cut in the 2009–10 budget to save money.
In this difficult budget year and bleak economic climate, the Board has already recognized that the spending cuts they make this year may also apply for several years to come. Furthermore, any programs cut this year may be gone for good, as economic forecasts predict costs rising faster than revenues. The Board will need to carefully consider any new spending decisions as it works to meet the almost $400K cuts to the 2011–12 budget.
Public participation in the budget process must take place before the Board makes final decisions about the plan it will present to the public. Please share your thoughts with the Board of Education and Dr. Villanti.
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