Just the beginning.

I'm watching a recording of last week's School Board budget workshop and I'm sick about it. Not the School Board, not the budget workshop, but the astronomical increase in SPED costs and a decrease in State aid. You can read more about that here.

So, how do we make up the difference? A few suggestions were made during the meeting. Things like increasing SPED case managers' case loads, cutting classroom teachers at the elementary school and only funding what we're contractually obligated to fund. 

None of these suggestions had any real traction with the SB, but I doubt this is the last time we will hear them. 

For now, I'll let some of the School Board members' comments speak for themselves.

"I don't see where we can find the money." 

"How do we go on?"

"I've never seen an explosion in Special Ed like this before."

"I can't get my head around how we're going to find almost half a million bucks."

"We have a responsibility to the kids."

"We need to be prepared to stand up for the teachers that we have and justify why they're there."

"This is what it costs to educate kids."

The budget is on the agenda for tomorrow night's School Board meeting at 7pm. Tune in.