Decisions Were Made

The other day while going down the aisles of the grocery store with my daughter, I noticed random items in out-of-the-way places, like the loaf of bread on the shelf with the baked beans and the muskmelon in the candy display. I looked at my daughter questioningly and she responded, “Decisions were made.”

In the Iowa City Community School District, in order to meet a fiscal shortfall, our superintendent and board are doing the same thing, and it looks just as strange as the muskmelon on top of the TicTac®. At a time when the board approved 11 raises to physical plant workers in excess of $100,000, our library staff are being cut because we can’t find $59,000, or we’re eliminating general music at the junior high level because we can’t find $90,000. The board and the superintendent also approved $24,000 in fertilizer from a Des Moines-based firm so we’ll have to mow our grass more often. We are also eliminating 7th-grade football to save $30,000.

How about we send back $20,000 worth of fertilizer, keep $4,000 worth to fertilize the entrances and the areas that have extreme need for it, and take the $10,000 the board has in their own budget (because no one went to the New Orleans convention) and save 7th-grade football?

Decisions were made but the superintendent did not seek any input from the community or even from the athletic directors, according to Dan Sabers, City High football coach and teacher. The school board decided to rubber-stamp the superintendent’s decisions and the board seems to be all too willing to compromise the standards that our community expects and demands. There seems to be no point at which they will not compromise our curriculum.

Blaming our situation on Des Moines may make those responsible for the shortfall feel better, but does not solve the problem. The superintendent and the board cannot reach the checkout line and bellyache to the cashier that they don’t have enough money. You have to prioritize needs for a school district just as you do a household.

-- Phil Hemingway