Budget Crisis: Frequently-Asked-Questions (as of Nov. 19, 2009)

Q: Why is the school district building new schools during this financial crisis?
A: The funds approved by the community in the November 2007 bond vote can only be used for the purposes outlined in that ballot language, which covers two elementary schools and the two high schools, along with updated technology across the District. We cannot use those funds for operational expenses, such as salaries.

Q: Is the District considering an across the board pay cut for all employees as an alternative to lay-offs?
A: The District is working with leaders of all employee groups to explore their ideas about how to help close our funding gap.

Q: Will the administrators be included in any cuts or reductions?
A: Yes, we are looking at cuts, reductions, and restructuring across the entire District to include administration. The first round of Board of Education recommended cuts includes $625,000, of which $219,046 comes from administrative savings. Those administrative savings come from a change in the health insurance carrier for administrators, including an increase in employee contributions to health care costs, and the elimination of one administrative position. These initial savings will be become effective no later than Feb. 1. Meanwhile, the administrative area will continue to be examined for further cost reductions.

Q: Why doesn’t the District use its fund balance before making major cuts?
A: This loss in revenue cannot be made up with fund balance, the District’s savings account. The District currently has 7% of the budget in savings which is needed to help with cash flow and to avoid having to borrow during months when the State doesn’t issue state aid.

Community Survey Results on the Budget

The survey continues through the end of the month. See homepage to take the survey. Below are the results as of November 16:
Overview
Three areas that should be reduced
Three areas that should not be reduced
Additional comments

Northern High Teacher Receives "Teacher of the Year" Award

October 16, 2009: Amy Meyer, a business instructor and Business Chair at Northern, is the recipient of the Wells Cook Master Teacher of Secondary Business Education Award from the Michigan Business Education Association. She receives the award today, which is given to only one business teacher in the state each year.

She has taught business at Northern since 2002 and has been the BPA advisor for six years. She has her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Career and Technical Education from Western Michigan University.

Seven Students Named as National Merit Semi-finalists

September 2009: A total of seven students from Central and Northern High Schools were named National Merit Semi-finalists listing: Nigel Beaton, Alisah Kamboj, Amanda Mills, Anthony Spalvieri-Kruse, Christina Tarn, Isabella Wu, and Jing Xiao. The seniors who earn this distinction scored in the top 1 percent nationwide on the PSAT, which is given to 1.5 million high school students during junior year. 

District Students Earn AP Scholar Status

September 2009: A total of 25 students from Northern and Central High Schools were recently named to various levels of AP Scholar status.

National AP Scholar is Naureen Rashid (average score of at least 4 on all AP exams taken, and scores of 4 or higher on eight or more of these exams).

AP Scholars with Distinction include Alaa Itani, Travis Mazer, Naureen Rashid, Nathan Werme, and Nick Wright (average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken and grades of 3 or higher on five or more exams).

AP Scholars with Honor include Melinda Alberty, Nathan Soper, and Isabella Wu (average score of at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams).

AP Scholars include: Chelsea Angel, Nigel Beaton, Gina, Calco, Ann Goodyear, Catherine Hearit, Alex Huang, Grant Miars, Julia Miller, Madeline Price, Meghan Raycraft, Emily Slade, Ethan Sobieray, Agne Sriubaite, Camron Stanford, Charity Tarn, Mier Wang, and Jing Xiao (grades of 3 or higher on three or more AP exams).

District Offers Advice for Families on the H1N1 Flu

September 2009: Portage Schools wants students to be vigilant with hand-washing, asks parents to kept sick children at home, and will monitor the health status of both students and staff as the District works to minimize the impact of the pending H1N1 flu virus. Meanwhile, the District will be sending information home to families.

Health officials are not advising that schools close when some students at a particular  building may come down with the virus. The District will closely monitor the status of any students and staff who may be absent from school due to the flu and will report these numbers to the Kalamazoo County Health Department. When reporting student absences to their school offices, parents will be asked if the student has flu symptoms.

Portage Schools has been an active participant on Kalamazoo County’s pandemic planning team and involved with Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency’s emergency management training. Portage Schools has been monitoring the H1N1 flu threat throughout the summer and continues to coordinate with area health agencies, Kalamazoo RESA, and other school districts.

“We want to do everything we can to take precautionary measures at school and help our families do likewise at home,” said Superintendent Marsha Wells.

According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), flu viruses are thought to spread from person to person in respiratory droplets of coughs and sneezes to someone’s mouth or nose. Flu viruses can also be spread when a person touches respiratory droplets on another person or an object and then touches their own mouth or nose (or someone else’s mouth or nose) before washing their hands. Symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue, says the CDC. Some people also experience diarrhea and vomiting. The CDC encourages those with severe illness or who are at risk for complications to seek medical care.

The CDC offers advice for parents on prevention and on caring for sick child at home at www.cdc.gov/h1n1/parents. Highlights include:

- Frequent hand-washing with soap and water for 20 seconds (long enough to sing “Happy Birthday” twice).
- Cough and sneeze into a tissue and throw the tissue away immediately.
- Stay at least 6 feet away from people who are sick.
- Those who are sick should stay home from school and work for at least 24 hours after the fever is gone.

Kalamazoo County Health & Community Services also has a booklet available about what parents need to know about the seasonal flu and fandemic flu.