APS budget is unacceptable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thinking about this more. Getting rid of outdoor lab and moving the employees to Arlington might make a ton of sense. You could sell the property and make a lot of cash. There’s nothing they teach there that couldn’t be done at an Arlington nature center. And since the overnights are now in jeopardy anyway due to the Oakridge thing. Why not get rid of it?

Ignorant. Thankfully, APS doesn’t own the outdoor lab or Murphy would have probably sold it back in 2010. It’s owned by a separate nonprofit. APS just pays for staffing.

With so many central office staff who do next-to-nothing for students…. cutting people who actually teach kids should not be the priority, ever.

Staff at the Outdoor Lab should be cut. The recent events and complaints are enough to have the non-profit owners hire qualified outdoor educators similar to other nonprofits.

Outdoor Lab staff was not the problem in "recent events and complaints."

Staffing is the #1 problem. The Science Director was removed from the oversight of the outdoor lab after many years of mismanagement. That's why there's now an onsite principal. Programs, including overnights originally had 3-4 staff on site at all times. It was only after the Science Director advised leaving one staff on site for overnights and not to be involved during overnight hours that the child molestation incident happened.

So, MORE staffing is needed.

Well where is that $$$ coming from? Someone on AEM is complaining about the cuts to Outdoor Lab, let's just close the whole thing down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thinking about this more. Getting rid of outdoor lab and moving the employees to Arlington might make a ton of sense. You could sell the property and make a lot of cash. There’s nothing they teach there that couldn’t be done at an Arlington nature center. And since the overnights are now in jeopardy anyway due to the Oakridge thing. Why not get rid of it?

Ignorant. Thankfully, APS doesn’t own the outdoor lab or Murphy would have probably sold it back in 2010. It’s owned by a separate nonprofit. APS just pays for staffing.

With so many central office staff who do next-to-nothing for students…. cutting people who actually teach kids should not be the priority, ever.

Staff at the Outdoor Lab should be cut. The recent events and complaints are enough to have the non-profit owners hire qualified outdoor educators similar to other nonprofits.

Outdoor Lab staff was not the problem in "recent events and complaints."

Staffing is the #1 problem. The Science Director was removed from the oversight of the outdoor lab after many years of mismanagement. That's why there's now an onsite principal. Programs, including overnights originally had 3-4 staff on site at all times. It was only after the Science Director advised leaving one staff on site for overnights and not to be involved during overnight hours that the child molestation incident happened.

So, MORE staffing is needed.

Well where is that $$$ coming from? Someone on AEM is complaining about the cuts to Outdoor Lab, let's just close the whole thing down.

They have two admins there now that haven't done anything but cost more than half the budget. That's the way APS rolls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve read that some Syphax positions are being cut. Is this true?

Sort of. Some being cut, some that are open aren’t being filled. The cuts don’t make a dent. The truth is for the past 5 years Syphax has added too many jobs that aren’t needed. Now they finally realized they spent too much and are asking us, teachers, to go advocate for more money for the schools.

Agreed. But I’m still curious. Does anyone know where we can find the list of those positions? I do not have it in me to search through the budget.

[Anonymous]

Roll call. What silly/ridiculous things have you seen in APS that serve little to no purpose and could be cut??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Roll call. What silly/ridiculous things have you seen in APS that serve little to no purpose and could be cut??

The entire PR department. Why does a school division need so much PR?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Roll call. What silly/ridiculous things have you seen in APS that serve little to no purpose and could be cut??

The entire PR department. Why does a school division need so much PR?

Seven people…why can’t each department write their own news?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Roll call. What silly/ridiculous things have you seen in APS that serve little to no purpose and could be cut??

The entire PR department. Why does a school division need so much PR?

Seven people…why can’t each department write their own news?

I would like to present my own radical proposition. How about we invest in quality programs with student-facing positions, rather than seven people who can spin positive PR that make the programs sound like higher quality than they are?

[Anonymous]

Oh for sure the PR department. They need a spokesperson. That’s it they don’t need a staff that puts together packets for them to win awards. It’s ridiculous. It’s been that way for YEARS. Not just under Duran. They do not need PR. Also don’t need a coach for every subject in every elementary school. Just hire more classroom teachers and let them do their jobs.

[Anonymous]

I think we shut cut the APS aquatics program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Roll call. What silly/ridiculous things have you seen in APS that serve little to no purpose and could be cut??

The entire PR department. Why does a school division need so much PR?

Seven people…why can’t each department write their own news?

I would like to present my own radical proposition. How about we invest in quality programs with student-facing positions, rather than seven people who can spin positive PR that make the programs sound like higher quality than they are?

The have 7 people? That's ridiculous. 3 at most.

[Anonymous]

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

Doesn't this make money for APS?

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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.

yes that's what I mean.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

I suggest cutting every single one of the bus routes that duplicate public transit lines at the secondary school level. Metrobus and Art Buses are now free for students.