the
Roar ause for alarm c
A&M Consolidated High School
See the AgHouse being built on page 17.
1801 Harvey Mitchell Pkwy. S., College Station, Texas 77840
Friday, May 13, 2011
Vol. 16 No. 6
nthis ssue news
Teen Court: Volunteers get hands-on experience with different aspects of the justice system. Page 4.
viewpoints
Ask Away: Senior Alejandra Oliva writes about the importance of asking the right questions. Page 7.
people
50 Years of Fabulous: Bengal Belles perform on stage to celebrate the organization's 50th anniversary. Page 21.
sports
Sports Review: The Roar selects some of the standout players and moments from Consol's spring season. Page 24 & 25.
health & rec
hey seniors, good luck next year!
Consol faces changes in staffing, scheduling as result of budget cuts
by
amy zhang, opinions editor dana branham, assistant editor
Ten more school days. 74 hours. 266,400 seconds. With the 2010 to 2011 school year coming to a close, many students have already filled their minds with thoughts of a fun-filled summer, with school being pushed back as a second priority. However, when August comes around, students may not find themselves returning to the same school that they will soon leave. Over the course of the next few months, Consol will undergo many new changes in response to the state’s impending budget cuts. “There will be less teachers and staff at the high school, which is one of the significant changes,” Superintendent Eddie Coulson said. “The class loads will increase for the teachers, but not necessarily the class size.” Although teachers may take on more classes next year to accommodate the larger number of students, staff members wish to maintain the school’s high standards. “The budget cuts will not affect curriculum
savings to transportation budget by staging school start times
instruction [or] anything that we’re providing for our students,” Principal Ernest Reed said. “To maintain that is a priority of the superintendent, a priority of the school board—a priority of our administration and the staff.” Contrary to the decisions of many school districts across Texas, College Station ISD will not be compensating for the budget cuts by firing teachers. Instead, the district will maintain a policy of attrition, where teachers who retire or leave voluntarily will just not be replaced. “We’re looking within the district and moving people around to fill spots, so we’re going to have [fewer] employees within the system next year, but we won’t have to lay people off to do that,” Coulson said. “We’re going to have [fewer] librarians in the district, we’ll have [fewer] custodians in the district, we’ll have [fewer] teachers in the district, but we won’t have to lay anybody off to meet our budgetary reductions that we need to do.” Librarian Denise Glockzin made the decision to transfer to the new Greens Prairie Elementary School to become a second grade teacher again, after being a high school librarian for the last 10 years of her 25-year teaching
transportation budget out of entire csisd budget
career. “I had to think about my priorities and my goal as an educator, because we were asked to think about other positions in the district that we would be interested in doing, and for me that meant classroom teaching because all librarians have teaching certification and we have teaching experience,” Glockzin said. “As far as the change and the personal effect that has on me, my career, and my life, it means a change, obviously. Going from a librarian to a classroom teacher is a change.” While Glockzin is willing to make the transfer, part of her wishes that these staffing reductions were not necessary. “When we have staffing cuts, we won’t be able to support the students and school at the level that we would like to,” Glockzin said. “It’s just going to require utilizing our resources better, including staffing. I chose to be considered as a classroom teacher and I’m happy with it, [but] in an ideal world, I think I would not be making this change if our staffing did not need to change.”
see 'alarm' page 3 predicted total cuts assuming a 5% decrease in state funding
Hard of Hearing: Volume of earbuds can lead to hearing loss. Page 29.
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News
Viewpoints
pages 2-6
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pages 7-12 page 17
Snapshots Student Life
pages 18-19
People
pages 13-16, 20-21
Sports
pages 22-26
Health & Rec
pages 27-29
Entertainment
pages 30-31
Seniors
pages 32-35
Etc.
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page 36
$2.2 mill
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$2.2 million
$74.5 million
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mill
$74.5 million
art by alejandra oliva