Quoted from rachel72

Folks, not many children go hungry in the school system. There is free lunch and free breakfast provided for practically every child. Schools provide more than they ever had to before.

There is no 'free' lunch or breakfast at school. They are paid for by our school taxes and is unnecessary and should be cut from the budget.

Parents are responsible for feeding their children. They not only can but are responsible and obligated to get this food from welfare/food stamps/non profits/churches/city mission/food pantries etc.....if they need to.

And IF the parents don't.....they should be turned into the CPS office for neglect. Because like dvr states....no children should go hungry in this country.

It is NOT the role of a school district to dole out tax paid lunches............their role is to educate!!

Quoted from Kevin March

They had actually suggested this a few years ago.  Due to the size of Schenectady County, I remember someone stating about getting rid of it, sending the western towns, Duanesburg, Delanson, Mariaville, to be part of Schoharie County, while I think Rotterdam and Schenectady would be part of Albany County, and Niskayuna and Scotia / Glenville going to Saratoga County.

Quite frankly, Albany, Schenectady, Southern Saratoga and Rensselaer Counties could very easily be one

"regional entity"  -- I think the current county boundaries in New York are obsolete ... there are major regional issues like   transportation,  public nursing homes, etc .. that would best be run by a "regional entity" -- with other issues left to municipalities.     I would even suggest that the city form of government is obsolete --- our urban areas spread across several municipalities.

We can't just fix the problems by using 19th century creations like counties, towns and cities ....we need new21st century  forms of local government.

Quoted from bumblethru

There is no 'free' lunch or breakfast at school. They are paid for by our school taxes and is unnecessary and should be cut from the budget.

Parents are responsible for feeding their children. They not only can but are responsible and obligated to get this food from welfare/food stamps/non profits/churches/city mission/food pantries etc.....if they need to.

And IF the parents don't.....they should be turned into the CPS office for neglect. Because like dvr states....no children should go hungry in this country.

It is NOT the role of a school district to dole out tax paid lunches............their role is to educate!!

The churches and non-profits like the city mission and food pantries get through money and food donations from the same people who pay taxes.  i don't think it is efficient to have school children stopping at the city mission or food pantry for breakfast or lunch on a school day.    

Serve the food in the school.

Quoted from bumblethru

There is no 'free' lunch or breakfast at school.

It is NOT the role of a school district to dole out tax paid lunches............their role is to educate!!

Sorry Bumble, I did mean to say 'free' as it applied to the child, not to the taxpayers.

Back to topic...

Whether people like it or not, Mohon has the lowest per pupil expenditure in the Capital Region, and near the bottom for the state.  Many administrative positions have gone unfilled, and despite what people claim, there isn't much "fat" to cut.  That being said, in these economic times, we need to cut what has become muscle:

Cut transportation and make the kids walk to school if they are within the legal limit.  Save hundreds of thousands!

Get rid of programs that have a low enrollment in the high school level.  At least 5 teachers salaries would equal $200K+

Eliminate teachers across the board...eliminating some teachers won't increase class sizes that much, and they are lower than they've ever been.

Quoted from 474

Back to topic...

Whether people like it or not, Mohon has the lowest per pupil expenditure in the Capital Region, and near the bottom for the state.  Many administrative positions have gone unfilled, and despite what people claim, there isn't much "fat" to cut.  That being said, in these economic times, we need to cut what has become muscle:

Cut transportation and make the kids walk to school if they are within the legal limit.  Save hundreds of thousands!

Get rid of programs that have a low enrollment in the high school level.  At least 5 teachers salaries would equal $200K+

Eliminate teachers across the board...eliminating some teachers won't increase class sizes that much, and they are lower than they've ever been.

but we have no side walks.... do you expect children to walk uphill both ways in the snow wearing only socks with holes in the streets to get to school????

if we have higher student to teacher ratios how will the students learn - who will do the work for them???

all that said my grandmother of 85 years used to walk from the old pizza hut(cars under $10,000) to the old "big n" plaza(price chopper) to the A&P to get her groceries year round weekly - no sidewalks on altamont ave back then(dunkin donuts as at Gallo's florist)

so walking to school can be done

going hungry and starving are different things.....if we had that many kids going hungry no one would be concerned about the obesity issue.....

Quoted Text

Budget tightening begins at Mohonasen
John Purcell 02/04/11

Before Gov. Andrew Cuomo released his proposed state budget, Mohonasen community members gathered to talk about what direction the district should take to achieve cost savings.

Mohonasen Central School District held the first community budget forum on Monday, Jan. 31, which had a brief presentation by Superintendent Kathleen Spring before attendees broke in separate groups to address to questions on reducing the budget. In the coming months community members will be deciding how to close the $5 million gap in funds the district could be facing in the 2011-12 budget.

“I think we are looking at something that is very different this time,” said Spring about the 2011-12 budget. “We have been able to accomplish a balance between our student’s needs and what we feel is a good job in shaping our taxes for the overall community without a lot of pain … I’m not sure we are there anymore.”

The district might have to make cuts and reductions that haven’t been done in the past, she said, with nothing being “off limits” at this point. Outside influences, such as the proposed continued reduction in state aid and the property tax cap, are “chipping away” at the districts budget. Mandated expenses are also increasing, leaving the district little room for revenue growth.

Spring shared an anecdote about the position of the district.

“Somebody saw the podium that I am standing at and this afternoon when we were putting the room together the wheel broke off, so we have it propped up with some books,” said Spring. “They made the comment that maybe this is symbolic of the process that we are going through that all it will take is to kick one of these books and things will start to tumble … we are trying to balance what we can shave away without crumbling our programs.”

She said the district has already reduced expenses over the years and the programs are down to almost the “bare bones” now. With overall aid from the state reducing 7.3 percent, the school is facing an additional burden and the exact numbers will become clear in the upcoming days.

“Mohonasen is a district that is heavily reliant on state aid, it is about 49 to 50 percent reliant on state aid,” she said.

With the bleak briefing at hand, community members gathered into a few groups to discuss the two proposed questions for the night.

“Clearly when you have to make cuts that are that significant, we need to have everybody at the table to talk as a community,” said Spring. “We’ll talk a little bit about the things that are not mandated and put them out on the table.”...........................>>>>.....................>>>>.....................http://www.spotlightnews.com/news/view_news.php?news_id=1296844009

Ms. Spring --- I suggest that you sit down with your counterparts from Schalmont and Duanesburg ---and start making plans to consolidate the 3 districts.

For someone that was SO angry about possibly "losing" the "hometown ambulance" (REMS) - you're sure quick to consolidate everything else.

The last merger was draper and mohonasen with promised lower taxes.......NOT!!
Mohonasen is right back to square #1.

Quoted from 147

For someone that was SO angry about possibly "losing" the "hometown ambulance" (REMS) - you're sure quick to consolidate everything else.

Nice observation.  The big Teddy Roosevelt admirer is quick to form government monopolies.  Can't have private enterprise Mohawk Ambulance monopolize our EMS service, BUT everything else from schools to police need centralized government control in the name of saving money.

Quoted from TippyCanoe

remember we saved apollo 13 with a bunch of women in a room on sliderules
ibm COMPUTERS sn#1,2 were used as backup to the human mind

i doubt they(the woman with slide rules) had low teacher/aid to student ratios, pc's, time out rooms, school buses that stopped every 50ft, parents that hovered over ever chice they as children had to make

all this excess is where cost savings can be found  - the bad part is that all the employment dependance on the school district

without real jobs in the community that are better than those of public service things will never change

keep thoes low paid jobs coming METROPLEX

either the milk must sour or there must be a better teat to suck

sounds like tipy and ted kasensky think a like

It is still a fact that the teachers' unions hate that the greatest minds in all of mankind were developed through home instruction, one room school houses, or were self-taught- ALL before public educations monopolies, unions and the entire mega-education system holding a gun to the head of the American taxpayer. However with the entire gang of thieves that run education from the federal government down to the lowest union head in a public school, there will be continued dumbing-down, lower results, and less-prepared children than ever before.

Quoted from 147

For someone that was SO angry about possibly "losing" the "hometown ambulance" (REMS) - you're sure quick to consolidate everything else.

Now you are talking apples and oranges ---

The school districts are PUBLIC school districts not run by some FOR PROFIT corporation.

Plus -- I would say for someone who is SO angry about high taxes - you should really be more open-minded toideas that would actually cut spending and lower taxes.