June 8, 2011

Dear Parents, Colleagues and Community Members,

This school year truly has been a whirlwind, and students are not the only ones looking forward to summer vacation!  In spite of the ongoing financial challenges at the State level, our teachers, principals and support staff maintained a rigorous, world-class academic program for our students. We made significant progress in integrating thinking strategies into our reading, writing, math, science and social studies lessons. We are continuing to use formative assessments and key data points to improve our practice, differentiate our instruction and ensure that all of our students are learning at high levels. In addition, LPIE (Lafayette Partners in Education, formerly LASF) and parent organizations continue to provide much-needed support, enrichment and guidance to our schools and district! Your efforts and contributions make a huge difference for all of our students!

In January, the Governor released his proposed budget, and the Lafayette School District was compelled to engage in yet another budget reduction process. In March, our Governing Board made the difficult, but necessary, decision to cut another $1 million in positions and programs to address a projected structural deficit of $2.2 million. This was a very painful process; however, the fact that our teachers, classified staff and administrators agreed to take an additional four (4) unpaid furlough days (thereby eliminating four instructional days), shows the collective commitment of all staff members to make sacrifices to protect the core instructional program for our students.

Fast forward to May:  The community rallied to support the Measure B parcel tax proposal; a cadre of volunteers committed their nights and weekends to educating the community about our fiscal challenges, working tirelessly to get out the vote. Their efforts were wildly successful, and resulted in a 74% passage rate! This is a testament to the community’s value of public education and an ongoing commitment to do whatever it takes to maintain an educational program of the highest quality. We also received new information based on the Governor’s May Revise; fiscal experts have advised us to build our budget with “flat funding” in the 2011-12 school year, bringing back $1.1 million to our district.

This means that we are now in a position to consider the possible reinstatement of programs and postions that have been cut over the past three years. While we are not yet out of the woods (the State has not yet passed a budget), our fiscal projections look better than they did in January. We will be holding a special Board meeting tonight, June 8, at 7:00 p.m., in the Stanley library to review our current budget projections and solicit community input regarding possible areas for reinstatement. Final decisions regarding budget, program reinstatement and district calendar will be made at our regularly scheduled Board meeting on June 22.

I want to thank you for your continued commitment and involvement in our schools. Have a wonderful, restful summer vacation. I look forward to working closely with you in the next school year. Please note: the first day of school will be Tuesday, August 23, 2011.

Respectfully, 

Fred Brill, Ed.D.
Superintendent