Teachers can discuss how certain decreases will affect the quality of education and their ability to educate students. (Lunnenburg, 2011) (Olden, 2012)
The people who are excluded from the budgetary process were selected because they can create more challenges in making the necessary reductions. Special interests will not be allowed to participate, based upon the fact that they will want to keep certain programs fully intact without considering the long-term effects of the school. Community members, who do not have children at the school, will not participate in the process. This is from their lack of understanding these challenges and bias in preserving certain programs (i.e. sports). Their loyalties are focused on maintaining these programs at any cost. Both groups will make it difficult to effectively reduce spending in areas where they are needed and will create added levels of emotionalism in the process. (Lunnenburg, 2011) (Olden, 2012)
Discuss your justification for the items you choose to remove from the school budget and how you will meet the district requirements as you implement your plan of action.
The way that the plan of action will be occurring is to remove items that are not absolutely necessary for providing high levels of quality education. This means that areas (such as: extracurricular activities) will face dramatic reductions or will be eliminated completely. While those elements which are necessary for maintaining or improving student achievement, will receive fewer cuts. (Lunnenburg, 2011) (Olden, 2012)
This means that stakeholders who can focus on achieving these objectives and the long-term viability of the school will be involved with making recommendations / decision making. They can show what these reductions will mean to them and how this will impact quality. The plan will be implemented in a series of stages. This will take place by having meetings to discuss these issues and make recommendations. It is at this point when decreases will occur in those seeing the largest decreases. Any areas which are impacting quality will see...
(Lunnenburg, 2011) (Olden, 2012)
The way that programs will be preserved is based upon if it can help the school to maintain or increase state / federal accreditation standards. This means that anything which is not meeting these requirements (such as: sports) will face the most severe reductions. This will ensure continued educability by focusing on programs that enhance student achievement. In the case of sports, it is considered to be high profile. Yet, they offer very little assistance in ensuring that students are learning more effectively and are better prepared for the challenges they will deal with in the real world. This will embrace the district's high standards for learning by keeping programs in place that will achieve these objectives. (Lunnenburg, 2011) (Olden, 2012)
The way that the plan will be communicated to staff, parents, students and community members is to show them why these cuts are necessary. This will be achieved by discussing how these changes will help everyone over the long-term (in the form of a public relations campaign). The effectiveness of these cuts will be determined from student achievement scores through different assessment tests. Alternative sources of funding will be located by seeking out various grants and support from private / nonprofit entities. They can help to offset the reductions in certain areas by providing additional amounts of financing to deal with the budgetary issues facing the school. To help offset decreases in textbooks, educational materials and it technology; the school can seek out assistance from nonprofits. They can help in addressing any kind of shortfalls and ensuring that these reductions are much smaller. (Lunnenburg, 2011) (Olden, 2012)
References
Trenton Public Schools. (2013). Teachade. Retrieved from: http://districts.teachade.com/l/6638/Trenton-Public-Schools
Lunnenburg, F. (2011). Educational Administration. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Olden, R. (2012). Improving Student Learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
