AASD receives large amounts of grants and aid every year, and still I hear stories from educators about receiving $100 every summer to split between 3-4 teachers at the same grade level to make purchases for their classroom...for the entire year. I've been in many of our schools in desperate need of updating. Why haven't we been able to allocate money where it's needed most? I see some elementary schools with nice, new outdoor play areas...while another in town has a 1980's style, toddler mini slide (Yes, burning energy outside through exercise is JUST as important as in-school education). And why are our students still receiving low-quality "muffin fun" lunches?  Our teachers deserve more support, and our children deserve better resources.  

In the 2020-2021 (unaudited) budget summary, the district spent $222,118.16. We also received $2,600,000 more in state funding ($183 more per child), and ESSER I&II funding totaled $6,000,000. We require usage of face masks for all children, but why haven't we updated our air filtration systems universally so that families have a choice in how their children receive education? Why no UV lighting systems for sanitizing? $5.5M was spent on COVID- related expenses yet we've implemented no long-term solutions to respond to any and all current and future viruses. A large chunk was spent towards Chromebooks for virtual learning, which failed over a quarter of our high school students alone, not including elementary students. Other funding was dedicated to staffing 19 educators, and para-professionals for isolation rooms. 

[ESSER I Allocation, ESSER II Allocation, ESSER III Allocation].

 

Find more information on the budget here, here, here, here, and here.

Now, we have a $98M referendum being proposed to address updates to our schools, and also build a new school. Should this come to table, I would SUPPORT parts of the referendum because our schools desperately need updating, and our elementary schools have been overcrowded for quite some time. HOWEVER, I would offer up amendments:

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• First, we need to focus on enrollment. If we keep losing students at the rapid rate we have been, we won't have a need for more schools. We need to make sure there is a supported need before we ask for taxpayers to hand forth more money. 
   

• I would like to see dollar-for-dollar coming in and going from the district. Is there frivolous spending elsewhere that could be eliminated and re-allocated to other needs?
   

• I would emphasize the NEED to update the spaces ALL of our children utilize the most- classrooms first. I think you will find that some of the proposed changes would make minimal to no impact on our existing classrooms. 

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Find more information about the referendum here, here (around 1:04:00), here, and here. There is still more to "hammer out" and learn about, and more information to be shared in the coming months. 

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To summarize, I want to deep-dive into where district money is going, dollar-for-dollar to ensure that taxpayer money is only going to areas that impact student learning the most. For all of the money we take in as a district, our schools and classrooms have not seen updates, none of the funds seem to have been used to respond to long-term pandemic planning to ensure we never close our schools again, and to allow our children to breathe freely, and little has been invested into new resources for classrooms and teachers. Our children's education must ALWAYS come first!

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