According to the latest article in the HR News, HRV is now in the Intermountain Conference. This means that most of our activities will now be scheduled on Fridays and Saturdays. Most of our students that are involved in student activities will have to leave Hood River on a Friday and return on a Sunday. Football would be an exception. The team would return either very early Saturday morning (sometime after midnight Friday) or spend the night and return around 1 or 2 p.m. Sat. There will be additional expenses for housing and food as well as transportation. I doubt that rooters buses will be a possibility.
I understand that all sorts of actions are being looked at in order to cut the budget. These include cutting some classes and, perhaps, cutting five days off of the school year. Cutting classes does not reduce the student load, it just allows the students fewer choices about what to take. Any change in work conditions necessitates the approval of the individual involved. Teachers would have to agree to accept less or they would get paid more per day. This would not necessarily save the district much money, since state reimbursement is tied to the number of student hours in school.
I fail to understand why a four day school day has not been considered. The district would save about 20 percent of daily costs, since buses would not be needed, food served, etc. If the district worked with the staff involved, perhaps there could be some compromise. This would effectively add more staff, since each day would have five periods instead of four and still have one prep period. In effect there would be 16 instead of 15 teaching periods per week and one less day to pay utilities, etc. If most activities were scheduled for Fridays, (field trips, etc.) there would be less lost class time. Again, this would have to be worked out with the teachers and should allow some extra-duty pay. I fully believe that the district needs to work with its personnel. Decisions should not be made unilaterally. That tends to cause hard feelings and creates an atmosphere that is tense and counterproductive.
Has the district worked out schedules with the other inter-mountain schools? How will activities such as FBLA be affected? How about all of the band activities? Who will arrange for motel rooms or places to stay for our traveling students? What specific hour will a part-time AD be available for phone calls and emergencies? In black and white, how much will be saved by cutting the position of Athletic Director. I mean by this, after the other costs are figured in. (For example, part time position, extra duty for activities, etc.)
In conclusion, I would like to have the district return to those times when they were open to the public and invited involvement. Staff should be invited to speak with Board members. I think that the Board needs to stand up and demand their rights. They are the Boss. (Unless they abdicate their responsibility.)
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