It was interesting to see that the cuts suggested by the Superintendent's "School Support Team" didn't support the schools. It looked more like the suggestions supported the status quo at the central office. I didn't see any staff cuts at the central office or Vermilion Conference Center. Maybe the suggested attrition for school staff reduction could be used there, too. It seems like new offices and new positions are being added on a regular basis. Positions that do not directly benefit our students could be eliminated.
The individuals preparing and approving the school system budget should have known that our district would be receiving less money from the Minimum Foundation Program. After all, they have been doing LPSS budgets for a number of years now. This is certainly not the first time Lafayette has had a reduction in MFP funds. There should have been enough time to address this shortage before plans had been put in place for the next school year. The school administrators, teachers, and staff will have a lot of hard decisions to make.
Apparently there was a $2 million mistake made in sending information to the Department of Education concerning the number of special education and vocational students in Lafayette. This mistake has cost our district dearly. Do we have new people in the department that reports these numbers? That's the only explanation for such an error. Anyone dealing with school district records should know that the district receives more money from the MFP for special education students than it does for regular education students. It is crucial that reports dealing with state funding be accurate.