APS budget is unacceptable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cutting the aquatics field trip will save almost no money. APS barely funds field trips. Mostly to planetarium, outdoor lab and pools. PTAs fundraise for Jamestown and the like.

Kids like pool week. No sense in cutting it. And APS is not going to fund something better.

Careful. I'm sure people would like to eliminate the Planetarium trips, too. Don't remind them!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cutting the aquatics field trip will save almost no money. APS barely funds field trips. Mostly to planetarium, outdoor lab and pools. PTAs fundraise for Jamestown and the like.

Kids like pool week. No sense in cutting it. And APS is not going to fund something better.

Yes, cutting aquatics would save money in staff positions and busing. How many buses are used? How many aquatics program staff are there?

And it would give back a lot of instructional time.

No, it wouldn't.
How much "instructional time" is being lost? A chunk of the time is already PE time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we shut cut the APS aquatics program.

Doesn't this make money for APS?

I think they mean the 3rd and 8th grade units where they bus kids to the pool.

I doubt that program will ever end since a large number of Arlington students don’t know how to swim. Even junior high age kids.

This swimming competency initiative goes back some 50 plus years and has a ton of support, kind of like the planetarium which almost got the axe.

I get the reasoning but no kid is learning to swim in the short time they’re in this program if they have no water experience. If I remember it was just a week when my kids did it.

The main purpose is to make sure kids have enough ability to not drown - tread water, jump off a diving board, stay afloat. We're not trying to train olympic medalists.

That’s not happening in a week.

Yes, it is.
It doesn't take long to learn to tread water.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I say they start by asking the right questions, such as why Duran increased central office staff by 40% and how is that helping kids learn.

+100,000K!!!
I'd like to see a written list of every single position with a real description of each and every one as well as an explanation of how it supports APS and APS academics. The org chart is not helpful. Also, a notation indicating which positions are filled and not filled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thoughts on teacher guy posting on AEM about 4 day school weeks? Methinks he's a little off his rocker.

He’s been off his rocker for years

Don’t be a jerk on an anonymous forum. Get thee over to AEM and comment there with your name if you’re going to criticize (let alone personally attack) individual teachers who are working hard to advocate for teachers and students.

Not the PP, but this teacher seems to advocate primarily for things that teachers would like and would make their lives easier - not just their jobs more efficient and therefore more effective. Much of the advocacy is fine; but I'm getting tired of hearing how teachers would have so much more morale with more paid time off. You can't compare teacher pay with Syphax pay, for example - it's misleading to say teachers don't have certain holidays paid because they are on contracts. Other employees are not. That does NOT mean, however, that I support all the paid time off Syphax employees are getting - it's an embarrassingly shameful amount.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unpopular opinion how to save money: Do residency checks, and the whole enrollment address verification annually. Unenroll, rinse repeat. Cut all the live translators at every single event and meeting unless they are unpaid volunteers. Preschoolers don’t need iPads, neither do young elementary students. Introduce in 4th or 5th grade. Cut the option programs with the lowest interest and enrollment. Like the 24 high school kids in dual immersion. Cut the bloated administrative apparatus. We do not need 50 DEI divisions at every school *and* at Syphax. Instead invest in teachers salaries, including SPED teachers, counselors, social workers. Hold firms who build for APS accountable, their proposals are far too expensive and they don’t get enough competition or scrutiny. It’s like the million dollar bus stop every time.

Written like someone who knows just enough without really knowing what they're talking about.

Residency checks for everyone every year would be too costly. They have already stepped up residency verification and that's made a significant difference at the individual school level where it's been most problematic.

Cut all the translators?! Seriously? Obviously you don't give a crap about other people being able to be engaged if they don't speak or understand fluent English. Doesn't affect you, so not important - got it.

You really believe there are only 24 students in the immersion program at Wakefield?

They are cutting administration - reorganizing central office and eliminating 20 positions. And I think you're exaggerating about 50 DEI positions at every school. Though they really should eliminate DEI at Syphax since they aren't doing anything.

Major construction projects come from bonds, not the regular operating budget. And our aging facilities need significant maintenance and upgrades.

Teachers are getting a raise, whether it's "enough" or not. It's what they can do with the limited budget.

But absolutely YES to eliminating much of the technology. Better for budget, better for actual teaching and learning. But first time school has to go "online," everyone will be outraged that each student doesn't have a device.

More frequent residency checks should not be that costly, since the infrastructure is already in place. The 100 students that were unenrolled just that one time at one school point to how extensive the problem is. There are currently no checks in high school. When there is this much hand wringing about the budget you have to get serious. Each extra student each year is a huge drain on resources, and costs real money, so yes, checks should be more frequent.

Re: translators. Not sure how much APS budgets for this, but I have spoken to the translators at dozens of event for years… from big board meetings to smaller community meetings to events where school tours are given and more. It’s fantastic APS offers this… but absolutely not worth it money-wise. The translators report minuscule participation (actual need, as in number of headsets handed out to enjoy live translation! 2, 1, or 0… ) pretty much every time.

The very low number of students in dual immersion (higher grades) was recently published by APS. It was truly incredibly low.

Agree on the need for aging building maintenance and expenses related to that.

Not 50 DEI positions at each school, but 1-5 per school times the number of schools (positions exist at every school) plus the entire division of DEI at Syphax - it adds up. It’s the teachers who see the real needs at each school and the support positions don’t take that into account properly.

My elementary school does not have a DEI person. I do not know how they are allocated

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thoughts on teacher guy posting on AEM about 4 day school weeks? Methinks he's a little off his rocker.

He’s been off his rocker for years

Don’t be a jerk on an anonymous forum. Get thee over to AEM and comment there with your name if you’re going to criticize (let alone personally attack) individual teachers who are working hard to advocate for teachers and students.

Not the PP, but this teacher seems to advocate primarily for things that teachers would like and would make their lives easier - not just their jobs more efficient and therefore more effective. Much of the advocacy is fine; but I'm getting tired of hearing how teachers would have so much more morale with more paid time off. You can't compare teacher pay with Syphax pay, for example - it's misleading to say teachers don't have certain holidays paid because they are on contracts. Other employees are not. That does NOT mean, however, that I support all the paid time off Syphax employees are getting - it's an embarrassingly shameful amount.

How much money could APS save if we cut that, and how much more efficient could it get? There’s no way you can give that many employees three weeks of paid leave and not have it impact operations or the bottom dollar? Let building admin and custodial staff keep it, but just them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thoughts on teacher guy posting on AEM about 4 day school weeks? Methinks he's a little off his rocker.

He’s been off his rocker for years

Don’t be a jerk on an anonymous forum. Get thee over to AEM and comment there with your name if you’re going to criticize (let alone personally attack) individual teachers who are working hard to advocate for teachers and students.

Not the PP, but this teacher seems to advocate primarily for things that teachers would like and would make their lives easier - not just their jobs more efficient and therefore more effective. Much of the advocacy is fine; but I'm getting tired of hearing how teachers would have so much more morale with more paid time off. You can't compare teacher pay with Syphax pay, for example - it's misleading to say teachers don't have certain holidays paid because they are on contracts. Other employees are not. That does NOT mean, however, that I support all the paid time off Syphax employees are getting - it's an embarrassingly shameful amount.

How much money could APS save if we cut that, and how much more efficient could it get? There’s no way you can give that many employees three weeks of paid leave and not have it impact operations or the bottom dollar? Let building admin and custodial staff keep it, but just them.

And get the Director of Finance under control. He has gotten himself a Director of Procurement, an assistant director of procurement, now I see an analyst… How many staff does he think he needs? We never had all of these positions before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thoughts on teacher guy posting on AEM about 4 day school weeks? Methinks he's a little off his rocker.

He’s been off his rocker for years

Don’t be a jerk on an anonymous forum. Get thee over to AEM and comment there with your name if you’re going to criticize (let alone personally attack) individual teachers who are working hard to advocate for teachers and students.

Not the PP, but this teacher seems to advocate primarily for things that teachers would like and would make their lives easier - not just their jobs more efficient and therefore more effective. Much of the advocacy is fine; but I'm getting tired of hearing how teachers would have so much more morale with more paid time off. You can't compare teacher pay with Syphax pay, for example - it's misleading to say teachers don't have certain holidays paid because they are on contracts. Other employees are not. That does NOT mean, however, that I support all the paid time off Syphax employees are getting - it's an embarrassingly shameful amount.

How much money could APS save if we cut that, and how much more efficient could it get? There’s no way you can give that many employees three weeks of paid leave and not have it impact operations or the bottom dollar? Let building admin and custodial staff keep it, but just them.

And get the Director of Finance under control. He has gotten himself a Director of Procurement, an assistant director of procurement, now I see an analyst… How many staff does he think he needs? We never had all of these positions before.

Maybe we should cool it with procurement, anyway!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kind of rich that the Arlington teacher now going after TJ and options programs was pushing pushing pushing for the virtual learning program for a long time.

OMG YES!!! I hadn’t even put that together yet…!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kind of rich that the Arlington teacher now going after TJ and options programs was pushing pushing pushing for the virtual learning program for a long time.

But did you hear him suggest cutting the VLP? I didn't. I don't think that is one of the special programs he was referring to for consideration to be eliminated.

There's nothing to cut now, VLP was already cut. Then for a long time, he pushed CONSTANTLY to bring it back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cutting the aquatics field trip will save almost no money. APS barely funds field trips. Mostly to planetarium, outdoor lab and pools. PTAs fundraise for Jamestown and the like.

Kids like pool week. No sense in cutting it. And APS is not going to fund something better.

Yes, cutting aquatics would save money in staff positions and busing. How many buses are used? How many aquatics program staff are there?

And it would give back a lot of instructional time.

No, it wouldn't.
How much "instructional time" is being lost? A chunk of the time is already PE time.

It takes a lot more than PE, it's like half a day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we shut cut the APS aquatics program.

Doesn't this make money for APS?

I think they mean the 3rd and 8th grade units where they bus kids to the pool.

I doubt that program will ever end since a large number of Arlington students don’t know how to swim. Even junior high age kids.

This swimming competency initiative goes back some 50 plus years and has a ton of support, kind of like the planetarium which almost got the axe.

I get the reasoning but no kid is learning to swim in the short time they’re in this program if they have no water experience. If I remember it was just a week when my kids did it.

The main purpose is to make sure kids have enough ability to not drown - tread water, jump off a diving board, stay afloat. We're not trying to train olympic medalists.

That’s not happening in a week.

Yes, it is.
It doesn't take long to learn to tread water.

Ok, let's say they learn to tread water. And some kids have fun. Is this the BEST use of our limited money? Couldn't it be spent in more effective ways? Kids are literally dying in our schools of other causes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cutting the aquatics field trip will save almost no money. APS barely funds field trips. Mostly to planetarium, outdoor lab and pools. PTAs fundraise for Jamestown and the like.

Kids like pool week. No sense in cutting it. And APS is not going to fund something better.

Careful. I'm sure people would like to eliminate the Planetarium trips, too. Don't remind them!

How much does APS spend on the planetarium?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cutting the aquatics field trip will save almost no money. APS barely funds field trips. Mostly to planetarium, outdoor lab and pools. PTAs fundraise for Jamestown and the like.

Kids like pool week. No sense in cutting it. And APS is not going to fund something better.

Careful. I'm sure people would like to eliminate the Planetarium trips, too. Don't remind them!

How much does APS spend on the planetarium?

The planetarium nonprofit “The Friends” took over a lot of the spending during a previous round of budget cuts. There are many things APS used to fund that are now funded through donations and by volunteers. I guess it’s a trend all over the country. The expectations for government services are just much lower than in the olden days.