Cuts threaten Leepertown program
BUREAU — The teachers are hired, the materials purchased, and students are in the desks. What more could the Leepertown School District need for its summer school program?
How about money?
‘We’re into our third week of summer school and there is a real good possibility that this year it won’t be funded,” said Superintendent Amber Harper. “I wouldn’t have had summer school in the first place if I had known this was going to happen.”
Earlier this year, Harper learned her district would once again be able to offer summer school to its children, thanks to a $21,000 grant from the state. Through a mix of resources, Harper put together a six-week, all-day program that began serving 42 of the district’s students two weeks ago.
“They come in at 8:30 in the morning, they have breakfast, and the academic program goes to noon,” Harper said. “The general purpose for the morning is very strong academics. It’s three hours every day of reading and math.”
After lunch, the program switches gears into afterschool mode, which is paid for through another resource.
“We’ve been able to do that through AmeriCorps and the Business Employment Skills Team,” Harper said. “We’ve got three great people from each program.”
Last month, before summer school began, Harper began to be concerned. She had read about the state’s financial problems, and looked for some reassurance while attending a meeting at the state board of education.
“I said, ‘Are you sure this money is safe?’ and they said, ‘Oh yes, it’s in the budget, and so there shouldn’t be a problem.’ Well...,” Harper said.
Well, now there is a problem. The governor and legislators can’t agree on a budget, and 50 percent cuts are being threatened against state programs.
“It’s said that the state board is going to start making cuts Tuesday,” Harper said. “I probably won’t know where we stand until midnight Tuesday night.”
Harper’s not sure what she will do if the plug is pulled on her funds. The district doesn’t have the funds to pay for the program itself, but Harper has other possibilities for grant money.
But for now, all she can do is wait.
“I’ve got parents that are counting on this, because this was the program that they signed up their kids for summer thinking, ‘OK, I can go to work now and I don’t have to worry about my children,’” Harper said.
Harper isn’t expecting much response from the parents until something “drastic” happens, and she believes the legislators in Springfield are thinking the same way.
“They’re thinking, ‘If we make all these drastic cuts, then people will be up in arms,’” she said. “Eventually taxes will rise because people will be moved to action because all of these programs have been cut. You cut everything, and then schools are down to the bare bones and there’s nothing left and then people start getting upset.”
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