Extra-Curricular Activities
Conservatives are being wrongly accused of wanting to cut out sports, music, and other extracurricular activities. I addressed this at the Budget meeting on May 10, 2016. Conservatives are in fact interested in grinding down wasteful discretionary spending that does not benefit our student academic outcome.
We want to invest money that actually educates our children.
School Directors are the elected advocates to ensure that the money our School District invests, will actually improve academics and the overall education experience of our children.
Winning Components for college acceptance:
1) GPA 2) SATs and 3) Extra-Curricular activity participation
* A high SAT score when combined with high GPA and extra-curricular activity participation, will provide an admission application with a selective college/university a knock-out punch.
* Open Acceptance Schools. Many community colleges and 4 year colleges/universities are open acceptance schools. As long as a student applicant has graduated high school or has their GED, these colleges would love to have them as a student, so they won’t require or recommend an SAT score. Acceptance does not depend on how well or poorly the student did on SAT tests.
* According to COLLEGEdata, the average college (of all colleges/universities) accepts 63.8 percent of applicants, some open acceptance schools acceptance percentages are much higher than 64%. Open acceptance schools, will accept almost anyone. Thus the value of the education provided by the school is diminished!
* However even in open acceptance schools, high SAT scores will still benefit the student. 1) The student might receive college credit, get to skip certain introductory courses, 2) get scholarship money or 3) qualify for honors housing because of their scores.
* Selective Schools only accept between 10-50 percent of applicants. They require or recommend SAT scores. They break out into: Somewhat Selective, Mostly Selective and Very Selective Colleges/Universities.
* Somewhat Selective Schools may not require or recommend SAT scores. They all do consider them. None the less, It still would be better for a student that has good SAT scores and submit them, than not. These college admission officers will add weight to extra-curricular activities in leu of a higher SAT score. However, students with a high GPA, high SAT and extra-curricular participation will have the best chance at acceptance and benefit from additional scholarship money and housing help.
* Mostly or Very Selective Colleges/Universities: SAT scores are required or recommended. If we want our students college applications to have a knockout punch combine SAT with a good GPA and extra curricular participation—gaining them admission into the best schools—
* we must fully prepare the largest number of our students to achieve the best SAT score possible and participate in extra-curricular activities.
Budget Referendum Rejected
My Motion:
On July 19, 2016; I moved to give direction to administration direction to stop our Budget Growth by identifying items in our discretionary spending and grinding .09 out of every $1 that we are spending from next year’s budget. This will save Millions of dollars and help stop the Budget Growth. This would enable our School District to avoid upcoming Budget shortfalls and the looming Budget crises in upcoming years.
This was voted down 5-4.
A Common Sense, responsible plan for next years budget:
We will adopt a cut-waste from discretionary spending commitment.
What is discretionary spending?
It is any spending that is not mandated by contract obligations or statute.
We can and we will improve our academics and High School rankings. We will do this without expanding the budget.
The Superintendent, must keep the Budget from growing. He must define discretionary spending, present this finding to the Board, and let the Board deliberate this information. The Superintendent must then present a Budget with less discretionary spending so we can better absorb the mandated increases thus preventing significant increases to our taxes. It is what we hired him to figure out and do. We must hold him accountable for doing this.
When Abraham Lincoln was the head of our people he thought of what?
Of his rights?
No.
He thought of his duties.
The people of the community should be greater than any one School Board Director and the people cannot be greater unless the elected School Board Directors think of their duty to their community.
When it comes to spending the peoples money, there must be control.
We must not allow our Budget to keep growing and growing; just to keep raising taxes and listen to incompetent Board members say, “there is nothing we can do”
I will coordinate with the other School Board Directors possessing fiscal common sense currently on our Board, to join with us in directing the Administration.
We want Administration to define discretionary items to grind down, to prevent our Budget from growing out of control like a weed. Going forward I and the other School Board Directors with fiscal common sense will attempt to change the way the Budget is done.
When I hear School Board Directors in this Board Majority say “there is nothing we can do”, They are paying lip loyalty to our community.
Every year, our School District Budget grows!!! Any Board Director who does not respect our Budget Growth as a looming fiscal calamity is not fit to serve on this School Board!
They show their real beliefs by the way in which they champion every new spending proposal and do the unthinkable; abdicate their duty of School Board Governance away to the people we are supposed to be governing !!!!
They make the nominal rule, community control of our School Board and our spending, a sham!!!
As our community grows and time goes on, Our community will grow to disregard and vote out School Board Directors who shirk their duties of Governance.
Our duty to our community must outweigh our rights as elected School Board Directors. As elected advocates, we have a duty to regard our community with our votes and representation, before we regard our personal right. We by default, allow our votes to be persuaded by influences around us, that may not be in our communities best interest.
It makes this School Board Director feel half angry, to see Boyertown School Board Directors shirk their duty and favor of their rights.
Duty is an obligation to something.
Rights are an entitlement to something.
There is a huge difference!!!
Budget Facts 2016/2017
Conservatives are being wrongly accused of wanting to cut out sports, music, and other extracurricular activities. I addressed this at the Budget meeting on May 10, 2016. Conservatives are in fact interested in grinding down wasteful discretionary spending that does benefit our student academic outcome.
We want to invest money that actually educates our children.
School Directors are the elected advocates to ensure that the money our School District invests, will actually improve academics and the overall education experience of our children.
The culture in Boyertown is changing with conservatives pushing to grind down waste and improve academics!!! The School Board has unanimously voted to approve the 2016-2017 Budget.
A critical change from last years’ Budget is:
This budget will now uniformly enact taxes throughout the district. This ensures that the School District now has the same property tax millage no matter where you live in the School District.
We kept our tax increase to just about 1.5%. Much better than the results from prior School District Budgets going back several years!