Budget cuts get to programs at Sisters High School

For the last two years Sisters schools administration and school board have warned that at some point in the near future they would run out of options to trim the budget "away from the classroom." In the face of continuing reductions in state funds, program cuts were inevitable.

It is a fine line between cutting a class and cutting a program, but in the effort this summer to comply with state requirements for ELL (English Language Learners) and special education, both the Agriculture program and the French program will be eliminated at Sisters High School.

The Ag program was a one-year-trial based on the highly successful Ag/FFA program in Redmond. The program received partial funding from the local farm bureau. At the end of the school year, the program was still in place, and in fact, SHS students registered for all three trimesters for the 2010-2011 school year. The current class is full, with 32 students.

The cancellation of the program caught boosters off-guard and they are just now rallying support. Matt Cyrus, local farmer, member of the school budget committee and president of the local farm bureau, has been meeting with Superintendent Jim Golden to build support for continuing the program.

There appears to be a possibility to offer one or two sections of the program in the spring trimester with some financial support from the farm bureau, and some reallocation of resources within the SHS staff.

Cyrus left his last meeting with Golden "...very impressed with his matter-of-fact, down-to-earth can-do attitude. Jim said, 'I want to have a program... here's how we can make it happen.'"

Complicating matters in the near term, John Jeans, the popular and enthusiastic instructor for the Ag program, has taken another job. The balance of this term's class will be taught by a substitute.

And Macauley had to tell students that the program is not available going forward.

Principal Bob Macauley and Matt Cyrus have said that some four to six students have indicated that they may transfer to Redmond to continue with their Ag education. At $6,000-plus per student in state funding, this could cost the district $24,000 to $36,000 in reduced funding.

The French class is an unusual case. Susannah Harrison has been operating on a temporary restricted license to teach the program and has earned the affection of her students and high praise from Macauley, who said she is "genuinely an outstanding French teacher."

However, her license expired October 29, meaning that Macauley can't let her teach the program. As a stopgap, a substitute teacher has been brought in and Harrison will serve as a volunteer aide in the classroom.

Harrison, whom Macauley said never planned to be a permanent French teacher in the district, is expected to take a test in December which will allow her to teach again under a restricted license - a situation that Macauley said reflects exceptional willingness on the part of the state Teachers Standards and Practices Commission (TSPC) to work with the district.

"It's just the administrative stuff, but it's an extraordinary thing TSPC has done," Macauley said. "It's a tremendous favor to the district."

The move will allow Harrison to finish off instruction for college-bound students who have invested toward their two-year foreign language requirement. Macauley has scheduled the final French class for the third trimester this year.

"They need to get through French 2B and 3B, which is one more trimester," Macauley said. After that, "it's done. It'll be furloughed."

The principal acknowledged that that will be a disappointment to many students and parents, but cuts have to be made and the district offers Spanish, Mandarin, and German as well as French.

"Even big schools don't have a lot of languages," Macauley stated.