Beacon Street

I rarely use this page to share my personal or political viewpoints on controversial subjects. Just isn’t good business, if you know what I mean. But something came up this week that I feel I should comment on.

As some of my followers know, I am and always have been very involved with our local school districts. I’ve logged countless hours in the classroom, chaired events, served as a PTA executive board member. I attend district meetings, act as liaison between schools, and sit on the SCV Education Foundation Board. I’ve watched with saddened interest as our embattled schools deal with unprecedented budget cuts; listened to our downtrodden but courageous superintendents and administrators share their frustrations; sympathized with educators, many of them close friends.

So when the local high school district announced earlier this week that they were dispensing with promotion ceremonies for 8^th grade junior high school students, I immediately took interest. The estimated savings is $40,000.00, not an insignificant amount. What makes this even timelier is that I have an 8^th grade daughter, who’s been planning her attire for this morning event, normally held at our nearby community college.

I wish it didn’t have to be, and I mourned the news for about a day. The schools have promised to acknowledge their successful exiting students in some way on their individual campuses.

Frankly, I was surprised and actually disappointed in the response by the community. The students, understandably, are upset, and have rallied in opposition. Chalk it up to their age and that egocentricity young teens hang their hats on. It makes for great texting and Facebook chatter, another reason to dis the authorities. Except for the electronic methodologies, we did the same thing. What’s really upsetting to me is the number of parents and other adults who are up in arms. These must be folks whose heads have been firmly buried in sand over the past year or two, as the rest of us have watched this very serious budget disaster progress. Teachers, admins and clerical staff are losing jobs. Furlough days are taking students and educators alike out of the classroom. Class size reductions, something our schools have been so proud of, are history. Programs are competing for funds to stay alive.

Forty thousand dollars can save an art or music program. It can buy copier paper for the production centers. More, teachers can gain back those precious instructional days that would have been spent on promotion activities. Is it really so hard to let go of a pomp ceremony to celebrate our children having survived two years of middle school? What kind of message does that give them?

Let it go, parents, aunts, neighbors. Instead, spend that energy on thinking about what you can do to help our schools get through these next, few—euphemistically called “lean”—years, and explain to your outraged middle schooler that life will go on.