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because we dont want to pay $100k for something we can pay 50k for (arbitrary numbers used). i love peanut butter but im not going to pay $5 a pound for it when i can pay $1 a pound for it. thats not bashing it, its just about paying the right price.
because we dont want to pay $100k for something we can pay 50k for (arbitrary numbers used). i love peanut butter but im not going to pay $5 a pound for it when i can pay $1 a pound for it. thats not bashing it, its just about paying the right price.
This is it, exactly.
I realize the state and county are in a budget crunch. They don't seem to realize, though, that so are taxpayers. My funds have been cut, too-- and if we were feeling strapped with (again using arbitrary numbers) an income of $75K, we're not going to want to or be able to magically give away money when we're down to $50K.
Mr Aconite and I don't spend money on foolishness. We rarely eat out. We paid off one of the cars instead of taking a vacation. The lawn service has been ousted in favor of the household teenager. And I don't mind that so much, but I'll be damned if I'll downsize further just because the school board wants to replace all the textbooks with Kindles and hire yet another Curriculum Evaluator. Take away the administration's free cell phones and car allowances, stop the constant trips cross-country (and beyond), and then talk to me about it.
If I didn't know you were in Florida that comment alone would tell me. My house is zoned for the either the third- or fourth- closest elementary school (depends on which route you take) and would require using a school bus. The closest is walking distance.
I used to live half a mile from an elementary school but my neighborhood was zoned for one that was around 4 miles away. My neighborhood used to be zoned for the school that was closest but the zoning was changed when the new school was built.
It really irritates me when people get on this forum with their superior attitude and tell people how it was their "choice" to move far from their child's school. They obviously never lived in FL where the school board constantly rezones school boundaries and consistently disregards how close people live to the school when they do so.
We lived in our last house for 10 years. In those 10 years the zoning for our elementary school, middle, and high schools changed. Kids in my neighborhood did not attend the closest middle or elementary to their homes. They DID when their parents bought the homes, but they do not now. I am sure those "wise" people who always make the right choices would have been clairvoyant enough to know all this was going to happen but most of my neighbors did not. My kids attended a charter and then private school so none of it really affected me personally. But it irks me to hear all of the superiority nonetheless.
This happens wherever there is population growth. My county here (Calvert) went through a period from 1986 or so to around 2007 where the system was building and opening a school every year. Went from 2 high schools to 4. There was redistricting every other year or so. Total population went from 33K or so to nearly 90K.
This happens wherever there is population growth. My county here (Calvert) went through a period from 1986 or so to around 2007 where the system was building and opening a school every year. Went from 2 high schools to 4. There was redistricting every other year or so. Total population went from 33K or so to nearly 90K.
Of course it does but when someone (not you) posts things like this is really bothers me.
"Living far out away from schools, having lot's of kids....these are choices and should be considered when personal budget planning is done."
Lots of people (like the folks in my old neighborhood) moved close to an elementary school. REALLY close. And then the school board rezoned them to a school where their kids needed a bus. The person who made the comment above should understand that sometimes parents make decisions based on factors that can be changed after the fact.
I wonder how the person who posted that would react if they had made a choice to live close to an elementary school only to find that their child had been rezoned to a different school requiring a long bus trip and then was told they had to pay extra for the bus.
In our case they did not have to pay extra for the bus but I could see it happening because our school board is so dysfunctional.
The school system I work for just discovered that charging for bus service, or eliminating it for special programs, is a violation of several federal and state education laws. Especially where they relate to Special Ed. under IDEA.
I can see charging for an after school activity bus but I imagine any school board that tried to charge for the back and forth to school bus would find itself in court right quickly.
I grew up in a very rural school system in PA. I was in town where we walked to elementary. The more rural kids rode the bus. High school was a bus ride. There were students who had a 25 mile ride (actually it's 23 miles now that I think about it) to that school although they did live closer to another school in a different district. Where I went to college had kids able to see the town's school from their houses but they lived in a different district and bussed about 15 miles. That's PA, though.
Another thought just struck me and it's professional: one of the complaints we hear at my school is that the lack of an activity bus keeps kids from participating in after school activities. Where I mentioned I was from did not when I went 40+ years ago, nor does it now, have activity bisses. The parents make sure their kids have a way home.
As an aside, in some states, PA being one, the public schools are required to provide transportation to the private schools to include religious ones.
Another thought: the only people I ever hear talk about "budget planning for reproduction" are the Gen X/Y kids. Most of the ones that have mentioned it to me are pretty pathetic and if I were a family counselor I would recommend they not have children anyway.
Of course it does but when someone (not you) posts things like this is really bothers me.
"Living far out away from schools, having lot's of kids....these are choices and should be considered when personal budget planning is done."
Lots of people (like the folks in my old neighborhood) moved close to an elementary school. REALLY close. And then the school board rezoned them to a school where their kids needed a bus. The person who made the comment above should understand that sometimes parents make decisions based on factors that can be changed after the fact.
I wonder how the person who posted that would react if they had made a choice to live close to an elementary school only to find that their child had been rezoned to a different school requiring a long bus trip and then was told they had to pay extra for the bus.
In our case they did not have to pay extra for the bus but I could see it happening because our school board is so dysfunctional.
Just to add to the chorus, our "attendance area" high school is not the closest high school. When we bought our house, kids were assigned to the closest HS, then a new one was built and the attendance areas rearranged. Not to mention, if you buy a house before you even have kids, you don't always even consider such things as which school your potential kids will attend.
Quote:
Originally Posted by North Beach Person
The school system I work for just discovered that charging for bus service, or eliminating it for special programs, is a violation of several federal and state education laws. Especially where they relate to Special Ed. under IDEA.
<snip>
Another thought just struck me and it's professional: one of the complaints we hear at my school is that the lack of an activity bus keeps kids from participating in after school activities. Where I mentioned I was from did not when I went 40+ years ago, nor does it now, have activity bisses. The parents make sure their kids have a way home.
As an aside, in some states, PA being one, the public schools are required to provide transportation to the private schools to include religious ones.
Another thought: the only people I ever hear talk about "budget planning for reproduction" are the Gen X/Y kids. Most of the ones that have mentioned it to me are pretty pathetic and if I were a family counselor I would recommend they not have children anyway.
In our district, the largest transportation expenditure is for special education. As I earlier stated, we do have a special transportation tax, which is legal.
Most districts in CO do not have activity buses. In my experience, my kids lived close enough to the middle school to walk home (1.6 miles) if I couldn't pick them up after an activity (this is when I was in that devil-spawn car pool as the rule in our district is 2 miles for middle school). In high school, the kids who could drive generally gave rides to other kids, or something was worked out.
Colorado does not provide busing, at least in my district, to parochial schools. I know this is done back east.
Just to add to the chorus, our "attendance area" high school is not the closest high school. When we bought our house, kids were assigned to the closest HS, then a new one was built and the attendance areas rearranged. Not to mention, if you buy a house before you even have kids, you don't always even consider such things as which school your potential kids will attend.
And as I said way upthread, I teach at a county high school and our most distant students live 20 miles away. It's physically impossible for the families of all our 1200+ students to live within a 2-mile radius of the school. Walking simply isn't an option for the majority of our kids, and it has nothing to do with poor planning by their parents.
Just to add to the chorus, our "attendance area" high school is not the closest high school. When we bought our house, kids were assigned to the closest HS, then a new one was built and the attendance areas rearranged. Not to mention, if you buy a house before you even have kids, you don't always even consider such things as which school your potential kids will attend.
In our district, the largest transportation expenditure is for special education. As I earlier stated, we do have a special transportation tax, which is legal.
Most districts in CO do not have activity buses. In my experience, my kids lived close enough to the middle school to walk home (1.6 miles) if I couldn't pick them up after an activity (this is when I was in that devil-spawn car pool as the rule in our district is 2 miles for middle school). In high school, the kids who could drive generally gave rides to other kids, or something was worked out.
Colorado does not provide busing, at least in my district, to parochial schools. I know this is done back east.
Some people don't buy their homes. Our home is on our family farm, which was purchased 100 years ago. We can't sell, and we can't move. So we've been locked into the same school district for the last five generations. Fortunately, it is a very good district for most kids.
When I was in high school, the district only provided transportation for students outside the city limits. All others had to provide their own rides or subscribe to a private bus company. That was changed by the time my own children came along. All children are now transported if they live more than a mile from school.
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