Fredonia-Moccasin Unified School District
Message From the Superintendent
There are three items that I would like to convey to our educational community at this time that should be of interest.
First : As you may be aware, congress failed to extend Forestry Fee funding. This will greatly impact our district. Approximately $208,000 of our budget comes from the Secure Rural Schools and Community Act (Forestry Fees). If congress does not act promptly, our budget for next year will be reduced by approximately 7%. We have tried to prepare for the blow the best we can without jeopardizing the quality of education for our kids. Every effort is being made on our part, as well as all the other districts receiving these funds, to convince congress we need and deserve this funding.
Second : The Arizona Department of Education has passed an increase of the graduation requirements for High School students. The following is the current comparison between the state and the Fredonia – Moccasin USD:
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You will notice that the state requirements for the freshman class 2008-2009 actually correlate closer to our current graduation requirements. However, the requirements of the incoming freshman class of the 2009-2010 school year are greatly increased.
This will necessitate a change in District graduation requirements. Currently, we are forming a graduation requirement committee consisting of school administration, school staff, community members, and parents. Our objective will be to correlate our requirements with the state’s in the most economic fashion possible. Any input you might have is always welcome. You may contact the district through e-mail from the web site.
Finally : Due to on going court cases in the state of Arizona, state legislation has passed a law requiring all school districts to implement an English Emersion course for all identified English Language Learners. Currently, schools will be required to implement one of the two following plans.
- Schools with more than 16 ELL students must pull those students out of their regular classes and provide (20) twenty hours a week or (4) four hours of English Emersion Instruction every day, that’s right, every day. In our case, we have a four-day school week; therefore, we would be required to pull the students out for 5 hours every day.
- Schools with less than 16 students would be required to either, Pull designated students out the 20 hrs a week, or maintain an Individualized Language Learning Plan on each student showing how they are receiving the (20) twenty hours of English Emersion Instruction.
Either way you look at it; this will be a tremendous burden on the district and its staff. We have calculated the increase cost for implementing this program to be around $100,000.
With the loss of Forest Fees and the increase cost of the ELL emersion programs the district will have to overcome a $300,000 burden to its budget. Not to mention the added cost for the increase in graduation requirements. We are working hard to meet these added challenges and we are committed to providing the best over-all educational opportunity for everyone involved.
Superintendent