Why some MRHS textbooks are older than your kids

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10445340.post-1148607106028232792006-05-25T20:31:00.000-05:002006-05-25T20:41:02.983-05:00Why some MRHS textbooks are older than your kidsParents might be surprised to know that some Monadnock Regional High School (MRHS) textbooks are 15-17 years old. Last fall MRHS principal Joe Smith came before the Budget Committee with a budget that included a line asking for $5,000. When asked what the money was for he explained that the high school’s math texts were 17 years old. The books have been out of print for some time, so the department had been buying used books on Ebay to replenish worn out copies. Smith said he was asking for new texts because copies were no longer available on Ebay. The aging textbook issue isn’t limited to just math. Currently the high school English texts are 15 to 17 years old. Social studies books are no older than 10 years, according to Smith. Five years ago biology texts were on a seven to eight year refresh. That has slipped. “We’ll have to look at the default budget to see what books we can buy for next year but I believe that’s going to bring up every one of our books at the high school to 10 years. I can tell you that I will buy biology books but I won’t buy all that I wanted to buy. It puts me back a year and its going to bump other texts,” says science department chair Jed Butterfield. When voters fail to pass a budget, the school must work from a so-called “default” budget. When that happens, only contractual increases are allowed. These include increases for such items as salaries, insurance, and transportation as well as special education (which together make up the vast majority of the budget). Everything else remains budgeted at the prior year’s levels. In the last five years, four school budgets have failed to pass. The exception was in the 2004 election, when the school board agreed to a budget that was less than the “default” level. It made this sacrifice in the hope that voters would approve a 22-classroom addition to address overcrowding at the high school. That budget passed. The building program did not. As a result, some budget lines have remained flat for five years. “That’s how you start falling behind. Being on a default budget for however many years, you start slipping, you start getting behind,” Butterfield says. That doesn’t mean that Butterfield has to wait to buy more biology books. Administrators can “shift” money from other areas by overspending on one budget item and underspending in another, as long as they keep total spending for the school within the budget, according to business manager Larry Biron. What is the norm was for replacing texts? “I would certainly say every 10 years at the outside,” says Butterfield. That requires some maintenance. “We do spend a lot of time and effort to rebind our books and keep them in good service,” he says. “We can make a set of books last 10 years.” But not 17 years. The English and math books are targeted for replacement this year, according to Smith. What would be ideal? “In terms of content I’d love to replace books every five years, but I don’t know that financially [the district can do it],” Butterfield says. <blockquote>Help build support for Monadnock schools. Please forward this blog to others concerned about education. Send your comments to 38kids@gilsumnh.org. Receive alerts when new posts in this blog via our e-mail list server. To subscribe to the 38kids e-mail list, send an e-mail to stserv@gilsumnh.org with the word "subscribe" in the body of the message. Or send a written request to 38kids@gilsumnh.org.</blockquote>38Kids Editorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04000850714803486969noreply@blogger.com