Get Tuned In

In a letter sent to staff on May 4, 2010, Superintendent Baker announced the amount of funding the district will lose in the event that Proposition 100 passes AND in the event that it should fail.

Mr. Baker states, “The success or failure of Proposition 100 is most definitely a big deal for the Vail School District. Each voter is certainly free to make his or her own decision about how to vote regarding Proposition 100, but there is no doubt that … Continue Reading

A new form was recently released which includes both the sign-up for voter registration and the Permanent Early Voter List. Read about the new Permanent Early Voter sign-up in Arizona Education Network outreach director, Melissa Megna’s Voter Registration Letter to parents and education staff of Arizona and sign up for your permanent early voting ballot today.

In response to numerous reports regarding pending layoffs of teachers in the Tuscon area, Superintendent Baker sent the following email to all staff on April 15, 2010 regarding the draft of possible cuts should Proposition 100 pass or fail.

All Staff:

There were numerous news reports this week about hundreds of teachers being laid off at other school districts in the Tucson Area.

Some of those news reports may have caused you to wonder what is happening with the budget situation in Vail. The purpose of … Continue Reading

As the Vail School District continues to sort through upcoming budget cuts, Superintendent Baker continues to inform parents of upcoming changes. See Mr. Baker’s Letter regarding Open Enrollment in the Vail School District that was sent to parents on April 16, 2010.

School districts across the state of Arizona are gearing up for what may be the worst budget cut in Arizona’s history. As Vail continues to carefully plan and prepare for the worst, many including Amphitheater, are doing the same. See Amphitheater School District Superintendent’s Letter regarding potential cuts.

Opinion
Letter to the editor
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 06.08.2009

Brewer gets ‘A’ for honest budget plan

Re: the June 2 article “Brewer: Fix deficit by raising sales tax.”
Give Gov. Jan Brewer an “A” for honesty and courage. The budget proposal she developed honestly faces the fact that we cannot have our cake and eat it too. We cannot continue to cut taxes and sustain critical state services.

The governor could have joined the simplistic and popular “no tax” bandwagon. Instead she proposed a thoughtful and thorough approach to the … Continue Reading

The Arizona School Administrators recently wrote a public letter to Governor Brewer, responding to her proposed FY10 Budget.

The text of that letter follows:

Dear Governor Brewer:

This has been a challenging time for all of us in coping with the economic conditions faced by our state. As members of the Arizona School Administrators Association (ASA), hearing about the K-12 budget firsthand as part of the stakeholders meeting, was significant and deeply appreciated. It demonstrated to us, as an organization … Continue Reading

The following letter was sent to all parents in the Vail School District on 5-4-2009.

BUDGET UPDATE

Last week, the Vail Governing Board approved contracts for returning certified teachers in the Vail School District. Unlike many districts across Arizona, the Board did not issue a RIF (Reduction In Force) notice to any teacher in Vail.

The decision to avoid any RIFs was not easy. While the District has the financial advantage of a well-planned reserve and continuing growth, no one … Continue Reading

More on the stimulus package…

As we begin to read and begin to sift through all of the analysis of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, several things are becoming clear:

1. MOST IMPORTANT: States must use stimulus money to restore funding to education.

Specifically, instructions are: “to restore, in each of Fiscal Years 2009, 2010 and 2011, the level of state support in education to the FY2008 or FY2009 level.”

2. BUT . . . the Act is filled with complex conditions and … Continue Reading

Dear Parents,

I am writing to provide an update on the school and state budget crisis that Randy Kinkade and I wrote to you about two weeks ago.

The recently passed Federal Stimulus Package has the unexpected potential to dramatically change the scenario described in my prior letter. In brief, the Stimulus Package appears to offer states the opportunity to maintain education funding at current levels for the next three years.

Read the full letter here: http://www.vail.k12.az.us/spotlight/fedstim.htm.

Image Credit: Three Flags, 1958 (by … Continue Reading