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Posted by: Kim_Hamilton on 10/21/2010 11:41 AM
Updated by: Kim_Hamilton on 10/25/2010 11:59 PM
Expires: 01/01/2015 12:00 AM
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Letter to the Editor~by Sherri Reusche CUSD Board Trustee
Dear Editor, The State of California has decided to spiral our economy out of control and horrifically impact our Children’s Education. I was elected to be a Calaveras Unified School District (CUSD) School Board Trustee six years ago and have seen our District in good times and in bad. I have fought countless hours in Sacramento on behalf of our State’s children. As a Trustee I am always trying to educate anyone who will listen about the budget and the difficult decisions that must be made in order to keep our District solvent. We have very difficult decisions ahead of us and I am not sure all those involved understand the great magnitude of how desperate our School District is about to become....
On Tuesday, October 19, 2010 the CUSD board made a decision to keep Rail Road Flat Elementary open. We have had two years of very difficult discussions, sessions and many hours of listening to the Rail Road Flat community. When the decision was made, there were two board members who voted to close the school. I am one of them and would like to take this opportunity to explain why. First of all, my decision to advocate the closing of Rail Road Flat was full of anguish. I have to commend the community for their efforts to keep it open. I personally want to congratulate them for their tenacity and ability to come together to achieve their goal. It was very difficult to remove myself from the emotions of the 25+ Rail Road Flat children who sat on the floor in the Board room in front of me; however, I was elected to keep the district solvent and to educate all children equally.
My decision to close the school was based purely on finances. The State of California is facing a 20 Billion+ deficit and yet they are promising to give our schools more money in the next fiscal year. You have heard the saying, “the check is in the mail”… I cannot depend on the State and their empty promises. We need to cut 2.1 Million from CUSD in the next two years. Where are we going to cut? None of the Board members want to make cuts, none of the Employees want to lose their jobs; everyone wants us to make money magically appear. In addition, I refuse to stand by and allow the State to take over CUSD. I refuse to let our Reserves go down to 3%; if this happens, we cannot even make one month’s payroll folks! My decision to close a very successful school was for financial reasons and my responsibility to keep CUSD solvent. This was not a personal decision and I will support the choice our Board has made and hope that we find other ways to make these unfathomable cuts!
Sincerely,
Sherri Reusche
CUSD Board Trustee
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