Concerned Parents and Educators Offer Alternative to 5 Period Schedule as Pending Budget Cuts Loom...
Parents and teachers, within the Kyrene School District, organized a study group and offer possible alternatives to the proposed "5 Period Schedule".
(PRWEB) March 3, 2005
Facing a serious budget crisis, the K-8 study group have presented their proposed curriculum changes for the 2005-2006 academic year to the Kyrene School District board members. The changes will greatly diminish existing Spanish, Fine Arts and Physical Education programs currently taught in the district. The study group's goal is to dedicate more time to Math and alleviate an incredibly tight fiscal budget. Unfortunately, the effect of the study group's proposal would greatly disrupt the Music and Spanish programs currently existing in the district. Concerned parents, students, and teachers in the Kyrene School District, led by Janine Skinner & Judy Starkston, organized a parent/teacher group to examine the proposed changes to the Middle School curriculum. They offered the following simple changes to the proposed "5 Period Schedule":
Keep the same schedule we have now. Sixth Grade would not change at all. Every student in 6th - 8th has 2 Elective Choices daily. Keep the proposed cuts to the Exploratory Wheel as planned in K-8 study ( no Health or Indus.. Tech.). Move Spanish to an Elective Choice as planned in K-8 study. Pros - It would require fewer teachers per school (cost savings) & students could still choose to take it daily. Take the current 7th & 8th Grade Spanish time slot and turn it into an extra Math period. If needed, the last 15 - 30 min. of the class could be used as the "Academic Lab" suggested by the K-8 Study Group. This way the students will be with their Math teacher for Homeroom and Homework Help time. Alternatively, take the current Spanish time slot and distribute it equally over all periods to lengthen all class times.
The K-8 Study Group's proposal, which is widely accepted as a reasonable solution by parents and teachers, will prevent disruption in highly successful daily Music programs such as band, chorus, orchestra. It also maintains daily PE and Spanish for the students who choose them as electives. The K-8 Study Group proposal cooperatively alters the school board's proposal to allow administrators to better examine and improve 7th & 8th grader test scores, without diminishing the Fine Arts Programs that parents and students are fighting to preserve.
Parents and teachers will voice their proposal one last time before the vote. At that time, the school board will render a final decision on the controversial K-8 program cuts. The vote takes place at the Kyrene School District offices on Tuesday, March 8th, at 7:00pm.
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