Hearing the chatter of young voices outside, I found myself drawn to the window of my office. It happened to be a bright sunny day and the children from Valley View were headed to the stadium field for a little bit of recess. As they waved to me at the window, it did not take long for me to decide that I could use a little bit of recess too. I jogged out to join them on the field for a fun-filled game of Follow the Leader! How refreshing to follow these youngsters around the field, hopping, skipping and twirling! It really was a great break from the stresses of the job and a terrific reminder for me of why I do what I do.
My time of late has been consumed with planning for the 2016-17 school year. In so doing, we are making decisions about staffing, budget and facilities. Despite the uncertainty of the state budget, there are difficult decisions to be made. The business of the school district does not stop because we do not have a state budget. After losing twenty-three instructional positions over a period of five years, we must recover some of them as our student population grows. The administrative team is developing a plan to do just that. We must begin to tackle some of the maintenance that has been deferred for the last few years. We recently made a commitment to upgrade the outdated Middle School cafeteria so to address safety concerns and we will be adding secure entrances to East York and Indian Rock Elementary buildings. These are necessary elements of school security in this day and age. The District is also in the final stages of developing a budget that is respectful of our community while ensuring that we deliver the best possible education to our students.
For comments recently printed in the York Sunday News: www.ydr.com/story/opinion/readers/2016/03/24/
Thank you to the entire York Suburban community for your continued support! You help to make us:
A Community of Encouragement. A Culture of Excellence.