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March 04, 2009
Dear Parents and Community Members,
Keeping open communication flowing between the Superintendent’s office and the community is challenging. In an ongoing effort to add another avenue of communication to the already established email, telephone and face-to-face meetings, I have established a blog which you can access by visiting our website: www.spackenkillschools.org. You can also go directly to the following site: http://spackenkillsuperintendent.wordpress.com .
I will post a new topic/question every other week, usually on a Monday, beginning Monday, March 2nd. Of course, you may write about anything, not just the posted topic. All comments will be pre-screened before they are posted. Any message that contains identifiable information about a person or persons will not be posted. Should you wish to comment about an individual or individuals (positively or negatively), please use another method of communication, such as those noted below. Also, if you have a question or concern that requires timely attention, please use a method other than the blog.
Other methods of communication are, of course, welcomed as well. You may contact me via email at lois.colletta@spackenkillschools.org, by phone at 463-7800, or by letter at 15 Croft Road, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603. Of course, you can also schedule an appointment to meet with me. Finally, there are still two sessions at the Barnes and Noble café scheduled for this school year. The next one is on Sunday, April 26th at 1:00 pm, and the last is on Tuesday, June 2nd at 2:00 pm. Jill Berkowicz, Director of Curriculum, will join me at each of these two sessions.
I hope that you will use whatever means you are most comfortable with to let me know what you’re thinking about or to ask questions about anything that concerns you—even if it is just something you are curious about. Ultimately, I hope the outcome of even better communication will be the best possible educational experience for the children of Spackenkill.
This time of year is budget time. I made a presentation at the February 9th Board meeting regarding the proposed budget for the 2009-2010 school year. While many surrounding districts are finding themselves in a crunch and needing to make cuts, our district is in good financial shape for next year. Still, I presented the Board with some suggestions for cost savings for next year, as well as a few recommended additions to the budget.
In an effort to look ahead to what may be tougher budget years in the future, I also presented the Board with some options for reducing costs in 2010-2011 and beyond. The reductions are organized by tiers. Please go to our website to view the recommendations for next year as well as the tiers of cuts that may be considered in future years.
We will be discussing the budget again at the March 9th Board of Education meeting before presenting the complete proposed budget for the 2009-2010 school year in detail at the Board of Education Meeting on March 24th. We hope you will be able to attend both meetings; your input is still very important, even at this stage.
Sincerely,
Lois C. Colletta