It was pretty amazing to watch the last couple of nights over at the Community National Bank (wow, great meeting rooms over there in the new place!!) as 50+ concerned citizens participated in the difficult decision making to identify $1,000,000 more in budget cuts to the Northfield district budget. The people present represented a wide variety of groups: parents, teachers, principals, community members, and even students. They were reacting to the suggested cuts brought forward by groups (parents and staff) from: elementary, secondary, district services, student services (which includes special education) , co-curricular and community services.
All told, more than 150 citizens participated in this exercise. In the end, the Northfield School Board will be well positioned to make informed and careful decisions about budget reductions.
In the end, however, Dan Dimick summed up the mood in the room by saying, “We have done our work here the last couple of nights. Now it is time to hold our legislators accountable for doing their part.” (That may not be an exact quote, but close enough.)
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