What are they thinking?

I know times are tough in Michigan today and balancing school budgets is a big issue. I’m all for supporting “our schools as they move through these difficult decisions.” But, while fingers are being pointed at Lansing, shouldn’t we be doing our very best to make ends meet?

This week Novi Schools committed to the expansion of full-day Kindergarten at 3 elementary schools: Novi Woods, Village Oaks and Parkview. This is on the heals of the 62 announced layoffs earlier. Parents on waiting lists were called and given the news.

This move increases costs and decreases revenue (from K-care) at a time we can least afford it. As mentioned earlier, the district should follow the lead of other area schools by eliminating all full-day kindergarten and expanding after-school care.

It will be interesting to find out how the school administration got approval from board members to make this move, as the 2007/2008 budget has not yet been approved. Certainly, this was not discussed at any public meeting.

Maybe folks wouldn’t be so critical if they weren’t being kept in the dark.