Updates!

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Come to tomorrow’s (3/9) Board Meeting to hear the recommendations from the Activity Fee and Building Reconfiguration committees.  These committees have been working hard for the last few months to come up with good solutions to these issues facing the district.

There is much good discussion going on at board and committee meetings, but the dialogue often stops for the days in between.  If you would like to continue these discussions, check out the Saline Schools Community Forum at salineforum.com.  This discussion site, started by Seniors Michelle Rupp and Matt Needham, has spots for discussing the many issues facing our school system today!

Final exams will be given next week at the High School and the new trimester will begin on March 18th.

Hope to see you all at the Board Meeting tomorrow at 6:30 in the Liberty Media Center!

High School Happenings

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First of all, congratulations to the cast of “Once Upon a Mattress” for a job well done! I attended the show last night and really enjoyed it. The final performance of the show is tomorrow at 2 pm at the high school.

National Merit Finalists were named this week and Saline has several seniors who recieved this presitigious honor. The Finalists will be recognized at a March Board Meeting.

As eagerly awaited college decisions are arriving, I would like to thank the counseling office for all of their hard work. They work so diligently filling out the hundreds of transcript requests and counselor recommendations that come through their office each year. Furthermore, they are now working to process the course selections for next year!

There will be a Community Forum regarding the building reconfigurations for next year at 7 pm on Monday in the Heritage Cafeteria. While there is a committee addressing this issue, further community input would be helpful in deciding this important matter!

The next board meeting is this Tuesday the 23rd at 6:30 pm in the Liberty Media Center. Hope to see you there!

Committees

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As you may know, three committees were formed to discuss some of the more in-depth budget issues.

The Activity Fee Committee is currently reviewing options for assessing a fee for extracurricular activities.

The Pay to Play Committee is working to amend the current pay to play fees in order to reduce the general fund subsidy to the athletic department.

The Reconfiguration Committee will be examining different building configurations in hopes of saving on operating costs.

At tomorrow’s board meeting we will have reports from these committees along with a budget update.

Hope to see you all at 6:30 in the Liberty Media Center!

SHS Helping Out

I’m sure you all have heard about the tragic earthquake in Haiti. I’m happy to report that several SHS groups have taken the initiative to help out by sending donations to Haiti!

At tonight’s Talent Show, Student Council had a collection for the Red Cross’ efforts in Haiti and raised over $100. Also at the show, over $400 and 170 canned goods were collected for Saline Social Services.

Further, the SHS Text for $10,000 program has been started at the high school. Through donations at lunch and text donations on Friday, the school hopes to raise $10,000 for Haitian relief.

Race to the Top

This Tuesday (January 5) at 6:30 PM in the Union School Boardroom the Board will be meeting to discuss the recent state legislation, currently awaiting the Governor’s signature, in response to the national “Race to the Top” Initiative.

The “Race to the Top” is a series of federal government grants (part of the ARRA) that will be awarded to states competitively after applications are submitted and evaluated. States are required to put together a report of steps they are taking to improve their schools. The main areas that will be looked at are: meeting international benchmarks, improving teacher/administrator quality, making and using effective testing data systems, and improving low performing schools. States’ plans will be evaluated and money will be distributed to the winning states.

Come to the meeting on Tuesday to learn about what Michigan is doing as part of their application for these funds and how it can affect our schools.

New Trimester

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This week, following exams at the High School, a new trimester began.  As we are settling into our classes, some changes are being made.  As a High School, and as a District, we are all working together to cut back on costs.  Even small gestures can make a difference on a District-wide scale!

At the 11/24 Board Meeting, a few of these changes were discussed.  Mr. Bacon explained that the High School boiler system was revamped to be as much as 7% more energy efficient.  Also, at the Middle School, the custodians are in the process of removing 100 light bulbs and ballasts to cut energy usage.

Throughout the schools, small everyday changes are being made to help our budget.  The library prints on recycled paper, many assignments are online, and more lights are being shut off when areas are not in use.  Every little bit helps!

As the schools struggle with the budget in this tough time for school funding, we can all help out to reduce our energy and paper usage in the schools!  Mr. Graden will be hosting a “Community Conversation” event to discuss the budget on Monday, December 14th in the Liberty School Auditorium from 6:30-8:00 pm.

The next Board Meeting is on  December 8th at 6:30 PM in the Liberty Media Center. Hope to see you there!

Recent Meetings

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Over this past week, I have been very impressed to see public engagement and turnout at the school board meeting and community conversation.  We had multiple public comments at the school board meeting and the community conversation this evening was a vibrant discussion.  In this very difficult time for our schools public involvement is greatly appreciated.  If you have any thoughts you would like to share about how you think the budget problems should be solved, feel free to comment here or visit one of the other SAS Blogs.  There will be further discussion at the November 24th board meeting and further community conversations.  

One of the main themes of public comments was program cuts. At this time, no definitive decisions have been made on what items will be cut in order to solve our budget problems.  Many rumors are circling, but as of now nothing is for sure.  

Hope to see you at the meeting on the 24th at 6:30 at Union.

Superintendent Lunch

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Mr. Graden recently  joined a group of about 8 students and myself for lunch at the High School.  Mr. Graden came with a list of prepared questions and at the end we had time to talk to him about any concerns we had.

One of our biggest topics of discussion was recognizing groups in the school.  So many great things are going on at Saline High School- but they’re going unnoticed!  We suggested hanging banners in the hallway or having scrolling announcements on the projector at lunch to help keep students informed about what’s going on at the High School. If you have any ideas of how to recognize groups at any of the schools, please leave me a comment!  I’d like to help recognize the people who make our schools great! 

If you are a high school student and would like to attend one of these luncheons in the future, please let me know.  Our next one will be during second trimester. 

And- congratulations to Saline Girls Cross Country 2009- State Champions! Also- congratulations to the women’s swim and dive teams on their SEC win!  Great job!

The next School Board meeting is tomorrow, November 10 at 6:30 in the Union School Boardroom.  Hope to see you there!

Millage Reminder!

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Due to technical difficulties I couldn’t directly respond to the comment on my previous entry.  

Please remind people to vote Yes for the millage on Tuesday! 

If you’re looking for detailed information, the video on the SAS homepage and the budget blog are both excellent sources.  

If people have doubts about voting Yes, remind them that the  things that make Saline Area Schools great are in jeopardy if the schools don’t get this extra money.  Due to the deep cuts from the state, any non-state mandated program is in danger of going unfunded.  

And for residents of Washtenaw County without school age children-  better schools means higher property values!  We can all benefit from the millage!

Millage

Saline High School is abuzz with talk about the upcoming millage vote. Students are finding out that important programs and activities at the high school are in jeopardy if the millage doesn’t pass. School funding is going to be at dangerously low levels if the millage does not pass. Teachers and students alike are passionate about getting this millage passed to keep Saline Schools at the high level of excellence we have come to know. As a Saline student I encourage you to go and vote Yes on November 3rd for the millage.

Hope to see you all at Union at 6:30 on the 27th for the next board meeting.