Jan 31, 2019, Southington (CT) Observer: BOE proposes budget, 4.58 percent increase http://southingtonobserver.com/2019/01/31/boe-proposes-budget-4-58-percent-increase/ The Southington Board of Education unanimously adopted its 2019-2020 operating budget of $100,216,856 at their Jan. 24 meeting. This comes as a 4.58 percent increase from last year’s adopted budget, though board members and school administration point out that the last two fiscal year budgets had funding “below current level of services” due to budget cuts…. “It will allow the school district to meet its contractual obligations, while still providing services that are required to meet all federal and state mandates,” he said. “The proposed budget addresses the most significant needs of the district in an incremental fashion, so that a number of programmatic areas can be improved over the course of several years.” The superintendent’s proposed budget featured about 73 percent for regular education, about 26 percent for special education, and about a half a percentage for major projects and equipment. About 80 percent of the whole budget funds salaries and benefits of employees. According to officials, SPS has not hired any new personnel in the last three fiscal years. With the newly adopted budget, the schools will be able to hire world language teachers for the elementary schools and the high school, a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) coach, a math specialist, special education teachers at both the elementary and high schools, and a psychologist…. Connellan said the special education services, as well as counseling and psychological services, had been requested to meet a growing need for students requiring specific types of instructional services….
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Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism
The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist
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