Gardner Edgerton Students March Over Budget
Protests followed a district decision to freeze revenue, cutting $3 million from the budget and delaying key programs.
By Amanda Valdez ·
Gardner Edgerton students marched from their high school to the district board offices on Wednesday, October 28, to oppose recent financial cuts.
The demonstration followed a September vote by the school board to keep revenue neutral, a move that reduced district income by $3 million.
Jack Steele and Brenden Frecks led the group after the final bell rang. Frecks noted that the changes have already disrupted the school year.
“We’re not even two months into these cuts and there’s already been so much taken away from us,” Frecks said.
The budget freeze delayed the introduction of a new math curriculum. It also eliminated community events, such as a planned senior citizen luncheon.
Steele said he spoke with students across the campus regarding the decision.
“I don’t think I’ve seen one student say, yeah, this was a good decision and that this is something that we wanted to happen,” Steele said.
District leadership did not provide new comments for this story. Officials previously directed reporters to public meetings held earlier this month.
A presentation from those meetings outlined additional proposed reductions. These include fewer lunch and summer staff members and postponed capital maintenance projects.
Board members justified the September vote as a way to prevent tax increases for residents during a challenging financial period.
Sam Dominguez, a parent of two students in the district, attended the protest to ensure student safety.
“It just doesn’t make sense to a lot of us as parents,” Dominguez said. She serves on the PTA at her son’s school and worries about delays in building repairs. “I serve on the PTA at my son’s school and we’re already having to have conversations about redirecting our budget to meet building needs specifically,” she added. Dominguez said the group is redirecting funds to cover immediate structural needs because of the capital project delays. The students also expressed concern that the end-of-year retirement breakfast for former staff might be canceled.
Source: KCTV5
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