At the school board budget public forum, parents and teachers from both Barnes and Wheeler schools spoke out against the currently proposed budget where there would be cuts to BOTH Barnes and Wheeler, the two lowest-income schools in Burlington. The two schools would have to share some key administrative personnel, including their principal.
In the budget presentation, we were presented a chart that showed reducing rates of enrollment across the city. It seems to me that what is needed to balance the budget is to either cut a couple teachers from every school or reduce salaries across the board in order to keep all the staff and not just target the low-income and non-politically-connected schools. Do it across the board. People speaking for Barnes and Wheeler both agreed that they would be ok with cuts in staff, IF all schools were included in the cuts, not just their schools.