Important Message from Site Council & Local School Committee

Dear Fellow Bonny Slope Parents-

You may or may not be aware of the severe budget crisis that the Beaverton School District is facing for the 2009-2010 school year. While we realize that school funding is one of many problems all of us are facing right now, we hope that you will take a moment to read this e-mail so that you can hopefully understand the magnitude of the situation.

The district is expecting to have to cut anywhere between $25 and $50 million out of an approximately $315 million general fund. That’s anywhere from 8% to 15% of the overall budget. Unfortunately, cutting back on utility and supply costs can onlymake a small dent in a gap that big. At this point, the district is considering all options when it comes to cost reductions. To put it in perspective, the last time that the district was facing”serious” budget cuts and were dangerously close to eliminating music and/or PE programs, the budget shortfall was about $6 million. Stop for a moment and think about how deep they will have to cut in order to eliminate even the minimum $25 million. If they have to cut $50 million- we can’t even imagine the cuts that will be made. At
this point no specific decisions on cuts have been made.

Please refer to the followinglinks for specific budget information:

http://www.beaverton.k12.or.us/home/departments/business-services/district-annual-budget/

http://www.openbooksproject.org/

The reality is that personnel salaries account for approximately 85 percent of the overall budget. One of the main options that is up for consideration is a reduction in classroom teachers. If this happens, staff will be cut based solely on hire date within the Beaverton district. Within BSE, ten out of our seventeen classroom teachers are what are referred to as “probationary one” teachers and will be the first teachers at risk for losing their jobs. Yes, its hard to even imagine, but that is the reality we are facing.

So what can we do? At Bonny Slope we’ve already experienced large class sizes, but because of our stellar teaching staff and dedicated parent volunteers, I think its safe to say that most of us have been extremely pleased with the quality of our child’s experience this past year. The elimination of classroom teachers will result in large classroom sizes across the district. At the middle school/high school level, an increase in the average number to 40 students per class was mentioned at the last budget meeting. We have to lobby for a reduction anywhere other than classroom teachers. The administration has made it known that they want public input on where to place the budget priorities and we need our voices to be heard. We urge you to learn more about this situation for yourself and then ACT and contact your school board members- urging them not to cut classroom teachers and preserve manageable classroom sizes. These decisions will be made within the next 30 days, and layoff notices are expected to go out the last week in May, so we need to act quickly.

Their e-mail addresses are as follows:

Karen_Cunningham@beavton.k12.or.us
Tom_Quillin@beavton.k12.or.us
Mary_VanderWeele@beavton.k12.or.us
Sarah_Smith@beavton.k12.or.us
Craig_Irwin@beavton.k12.or.us
Jeff_Hicks@beavton.k12.or.us

You may want to include the superintendent,

Jerome_Colonna@beavton.k12.or.us

Also, there are two very important meetings that you may attend:

School Board Business Meeting- Monday, April 6th @ 6:30pm
Central Administration Center
16550 SW Merlo Road

You may ask questions and voice your opinion at the Superintendent’s Listening Session on Thurs. 4/16 from 7 to 8:30pm
Health and Science School
18640 NW Walker Road

Budget Committee Meeting
Monday, April 28th at 7pm
Central Administration Center
16550 SW Merlo Road

Regards,

Bill Hagerup- BSE Local School Committee
bill@hagerupfamily.com
Sara Deboy- BSE Site Council
sdeboy@iname.com

Rocky Scales- BSE Local School Committee
rocky.scales@gmail.com

Elaine Underwood- BSE Site Council
laineyunderwood@verizon.net

Tracy Wenckus- BSE Local School Committee
twenckus@portlandopera.org

Lattes in the Library, Fri., Apr 3rd

Join us for your morning latte or mocha. Come meet some new friends or visit with some old ones. Come check out the volunteer opportunities at BSE. We’re going to finish the year strong! All are welcome.
Friday, April 3rd
8:30-9:30am
BSE Library

Pizza Schmizza – FINAL FUNDRAISING RESTAURANT NIGHT!! April 28th!

Support Bonny Slope Elementary’s fundraising efforts at our Pizza Schmizza Sunset restaurant night (FINAL RESTAURANT NIGHT OF THE YEAR).  Print this FLYER OR bring the one that comes home in your student’s Friday Folder April 10th and 35% of your food order will be donated to the school to help fund various student programs – Art Literacy, Passport Club, Science Fair and many others.

We encourage you to use the pre-order FORM for work lunches and business meetings on April 28th since these orders are typically larger and, therefore, generate more money for the school.  The donation applies to all food ordered in the restaurant and to-go. Scrip will not be accepted at this event. “

Win a Special Prize for Your Child’s Class

Now is a great time to buy gift cards through the BSCO Scrip program to earn money for the school and possibly win one of several great prizes.

The top two classes with the most Scrip orders during the months of March and April will win an extended outdoor brain break with a special snack provided by the Scrip team. In addition, we will be conducting our regular Scrip raffles during the months of March and April. Everyone who buys Scrip during March will be entered into a drawing for a ‘School Spirit Package’, which includes a school T-shirt, a school hoody, and a tie-dye bag. In April the Scrip team will be raffling off dinner for two at Outback Steakhouse.

The fundraising team is working hard to raise money to support all of the great events and activities supported by the BSCO. Money raised by the fundraising team has recently funded our Artist in Residence (Carrie Moore), the Art Lit program, and the Science Fair, just to name a few programs. This spring Bonny Slope Elementary’s 1st Carnival and after school enrichment programs will be supported by the BSCO as well. If your child is excited about these programs, or any of the others supported by the BSCO, be sure to buy gift cards through the Scrip program today!

February Passport Club

This month students studying Passport Club levels 1-5 will learn about India, Cambodia, Romania, Chile, and Libya along with 25 other locations. Our test date is Wednesday, February 25, 2009.

Third graders completing Special Itineraries of Landmarks & Monuments will be asked to identify pictures of the Taj Mahal (India), Angkor Wat (Cambodia), and the White House and Lincoln Memorial (Washington, D.C.). And since it’s February students will also be asked to identify where Punxsutawney Phil lives.

Fourth graders completing Special Itineraries: The Western Hemisphere will be tested on the remaining states in the United States. This month they will identify states in the southeast. Throughout the year fourth graders learned the states and capitals of all 50 states. Next month they move on to learn the territories and provinces of Canada.

Fifth graders have a choice of completing the Passport Club levels or taking the Continent Challenge, where students learn countries in the entire continent. This month fifth graders taking the Continent Challenge will be tested on 26 southern African countries. In March they begin learning the countries in Europe.

Don’t forget to check this website for Passport Club study guides. The study guides provide study tips and facts about these locations. We also pulled geography books from the Bonny Slope library collection to help you learn more about the countries being tested this month. Look for these books near the checkout counter in the library.

Box Top Competition – 2nd Place Spot is a Close Battle

Mrs. Williamson’s class continues to hold onto 1st place but Mrs. McLandrich’s class has made a big move into 2nd (from 10th in November.) They are neck and neck with Mrs. Park’s class. Keep on clipping and sending in those Box Tops. Your classroom still has plenty of time to make their move to try to win an end of year party. In addition, there is a raffle for several Webkinz at the end of February. Each Box Top collection sheet received since the last raffle is an entry. The more sheets submitted, the more chances to win.