| Letter to the Editor |
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| Opinion | |||
| Written by Staff | |||
| Wednesday, 20 January 2010 09:00 | |||
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Dear editor, You may have read the article about Louisburg’s two Horizon Award winners. On Jan. 15, Sarah Smith and Jenna Jones were surprised with a call from Diane DeBacker, interim Kansas education commissioner, informing them of their selection as outstanding first-year teachers. This is quite an honor for Sarah, Jenna and the district. These young educators are the future for our students, and we need to foster their development. However, the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the economy of the state may force us to release some of our newest educators. This would be a travesty for the Louisburg School District, which has worked tirelessly in past years to build a strong, vibrant school community. The reality is, teacher salaries make up a very large percentage of our budget. Given the dialogue in Topeka, we are looking at a possible reduction of funds for the 2010-11 school year in the neighborhood of $700,000 to $1.5 million, depending on the source. This is on top of the $460,000 cut we received in November for the current fiscal year that ends June 30. Our legislators have a very difficult session ahead of them. We need to help them understand what such drastic cuts will do to our educational programs from the classroom to the locker room. The loss of local income will have an equally dramatic impact on the local economy. I am going to do my very best to find every dollar that can be spared in order to save jobs. I hope our horizon stays bright and vibrant. It will take each of us working together to make that happen. Sharon Zoellner, superintendent
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