Reducing expenditures

By Alan J. Van Nevel

With the Kern-Inyo School Financing Authority payments diminishing, the district must cut expenditures in coming years. I propose as a small start to cut board member benefits.

School board members currently receive full health care insurance, at no cost. The district pays roughly $500 a month for each board member. This amounts to about $40K a year for the entire board. While the school board is a worthy and important task, it is not one that merits the benefits of a full time job. I am prepared to make this cut, as part of the general cost cutting that must be done in order for this district to survive.

Cutting expenditures is not an easy task. For a school district, this job is even harder, since bad decisions will impact the education that our children receive. I plan on investigating innovative methods that will save money, yet minimizing the impact on eductaion. Further, I will not consider cuts that will negatively affect our children. One possible cost saving measure would be to extend the school day. The net effect would be to fulfill the 180 days of seat time the state requires, in less than 180 days, which would save some money in terms of facility expenses.

In addition to reducing expenditures, I propose to provide more resources for teachers to prepare and submit grant proposals to outside funding agencies. Agencies such as the National Science Foundation, the Dept. of Education or corporations offer a variety of funding for independent grants. The additional revenue generated by these grants would allow teachers to incorporate new and advanced materials in their classrooms, improving the quality education they already provide.

Voting for Van Nevel will ensure that the school board acts responsibly in the years to come, when it comes to financial decisions that will imapct the education of our children.