The Perfect Storm
It has been an absolutely wonderful start to the school year. Our children are back in classes; we made the transition to new technology systems; opened a new library; new classrooms at the High School and McFall; and even successfully navigated evacuating two buildings when a gas line was accidentally hit by a village work crew. It’s been a great beginning and we are looking forward to a wonderful year with the students of Thornapple Kellogg.
But as positive as the start of the school year has been, we know that for everyone in our community there is an uneasiness that lingers in their lives. Economic uncertainty in Michigan is something we have come to learn to live and it certainly makes life difficult for most everyone. Your school district is no different. On the front page of this issue of The Key you read about the funding crisis for all schools in the state of Michigan. As I am writing this entry on October 2, 2008 we still don’t know what level of funding we will receive. It is a very, very difficult time in our state’s history.
But there is good news from your school district because in spite of the gloom that is hanging over Lansing there is still a great deal that’s within our control.
· We are as committed as ever to delivering the same high quality education to the children of our community as we have in the past,
· We will continue our work as a leader in the Kent ISD in curriculum development and instructional practice, and
· We will continue to meet the challenge of high standards and expectations every day.
We are very proud of the education students receive at Thornapple Kellogg and the great strides we have made in recent years. We believe we do better with the resources at our disposal than anyone else, and that we “coach up” our kids better than anyone in West Michigan.
We have also been responsible stewards of our resources. As a result of being fiscally conservative we are fortunate to be more financially stable than many other districts in the area. This should help us weather the “Perfect Storm” better than most, but we should not be misled into thinking that we will not be affected by what looms on the horizon. If the state budget cuts we have heard about in the next few years take place; schools all over the state will be devastated and our ability to provide children with the education they need to be successful will be severely compromised. Here at TK it will mean deeper cuts than we have already made. It will mean cuts to programs and people. We will not be able to avoid it, and others will feel the sting even more than we will
What we need more than ever is a stable, adequate and equitable system for funding our schools. We also need the assistance of community members to help send that message to legislators. School officials have been very active in this discussion for many years, but alone there is only so much we can do. After a period of time our phone calls and emails begin to fall on deaf ears. We will continue our effort, but now in addition, Lansing will need to hear from you.
We will be posting information on our website during the school year to keep you informed as we learn more about school funding issues. We will also be asking you from time to time to contact your legislators to make sure they know how people in our community feel about the importance of providing stable, adequate and equitable funding for our schools.