I am in support of raising the school lunch fee. skwurt is correct in the comment about not being able to pack a lunch from home for the amount the schools charge.

Regarding sports, I have mixed attitudes. Yes, I believe that personal discipline and teamwork and the like are necessary. However, with the No Child Left Behind Act, getting a D in a class (for a student who would previously qualify for failing) would get through the system anyway, so I don't believe participation in sports is an incentive to learning anymore.

Another point: After reviewing the state of professional sports and the laws that are broken by pro football players, baseball players on drugs, boxers that are raping women, and the like, I can't help but wonder if we are just training our district's kids to run faster with our neighbor's TVs and stereos.

I work in a janesville school lunchroom, I see the invoices, I KNOW the prices are up, just like my own Grocery bill. I will say this, for even the 2.25 that is going to be charged at the high school level, you can't pack a lunch for that, not one with an entree,(hot or cold sandwich or meal) vegetable, fruit, bread & milk, and sometimes a dessert. I hear people complain that they can't afford the reduced lunch(currently .40) bit they don't qualify for free lunch. I guess then that's a matter of priorities, Again, you can't PACK a lunch for .40! I find it hard to believe that there is not something that can't be given up in order to have 2.00 a week to pay for a kids' lunch. I know times are tough, and won't get easier anytime soon, but it IS a matter of priorities.lunch gets them through the rest of their day, it's brain fuel. Sports, are an optional, thing...food, a necessity... The decision to rase the prices made sense.

I do not agree at all with the athletic taxes that our district famalies have to pay in order for their children to participate in sports. However, how could you totally bypass football with the expensive equipment that each athlete must have. A revolution helmet alone must go for at least $150 - $175 per helmet. Eliminate the fees and cut some of the wasteful programs that are pet projects of some of the district leaders and school board members.

The attorney for the school district. Is what was meant.

I don't think a insurance consultant is going to save the district $36,000 a year in costs. I think the district attorney could probably look at insurance liabilities when the situation occurs. What about their insurance agent? Isn't that the job of the agent is to work for the client which would be the school district.

etown-Last I knew the JSD had a $1,000,000. budget for the sports in this town. It blows my mind that they keep finding MORE money to fund sports and LESS on the basics .Does anyone remember how many students were in a sport last year ? Lets do the math on that and see what we pay for them to play . I'm not down on the sports ...but come on enough is enough !

something your all forgetting, sporting events also bring in revenue, people are charged at the door to get in, maybe the sports people dont have to pay to get into see,and im not sure how many of those there are should have a higher sports fee,

The problem is that wages have remained stagnant while prices have gone up. School is mandatory and nearly everyone agrees that extra-curricular activities can be helpful, especially for social reasons. Lunch is, of course, necessary for all children.

Take someone making say... $12 an hour. It's a decent wage. After taxes, insurance, and gas, guess what, if the kid wants to be in gymnastics, that's your whole check! Looks like hockey and gymnastics are only for the 'rich' kids.

Heaven help those who are making even less money or who have multiple children.

Guest speakers, would that include the hypnotist, and illusionist that was brought in for the first saturday school? How much did those cost, and why? How much money are they going to spend the next saturday school to keep the kids entertained?

How much money did it cost the district to open school that day? And was the price worth it for only 2 hours for the middle and high schools?

I find it very interesting that some of the sports with proposed surcharges have little cost. Swim as an example; we have the pools already and not much needed for equipment. Football has a huge cost factor in equipment and no surcharge is proposed. The worst part involves the proposed $25.00 charge for clubs. Who gets this money? The teachers DONATE their time, they wouldn't see any of the money. Many of these clubs are for school and community service; and now they are going to be asked to pay an extra $25.00 to give back. All this proposed fee will do is kill any service club in the school and not have students involved in anything except your regular class schedule. Not a very well thought out proposal!

Whether it is right or not, a D is passing. Barely, but passing. And I do agree with you, we don't NEED another costly sport added to the programs. Hockey has been and always should be an elective sport that families pay for on their own. Unless it has changed, and I am not aware of that, if so, I stand corrected. I am for the basic sports that have always been in the school system, and I do agree that any monies added to a school budget should be used for existing needs.

optimism-You gave me a good laugh on the grade average :) ... Some sports you only have to have a D average,some a C average.The coach of a sport may make you have higher ??? But I would find it hard to believe that would happen in this district.One more thing about staying on the topic ,in the story it states that the school board is using $20,000. that was ear marked for teaching training to be used for the new girls hockey team. Can you make sense of that move ?? I sure can't !! On other post people are always saying we need the best teachers that we can afford ??? If thats the case I would say training over girls hockey !!

And it does come first....otherwise there wouldn't be a grade average athletes need to keep to participate. As I stated before, this gives an otherwise acidemically challenged student a reason to work harder on their grades. ANyway, we are getting away from the real debate here. Why the costs of lunches has gone up. In my opinion, it is not even an issue for debate, groceries are on the rise, simple as that.

optimism-You learn those same skills participating in choir, concert band, jazz band, drama club, spanish club, etc. Participating in a sport has nothing to do with learning academics. Academics in this school district SHOULD ALWAYS come first.

I am glad you found those lessons elsewhere, but someone else that is not acedemically inclined, may need another avenue of learning these such as sports. I am not saying that everyone needs the same things, I am just trying to point out that just because one doesn't benefit from sports doesn't mean that someone else won't. And chemistry may have been a pre-requisite for your degree, but it isn't necessarily for someone else's. ALL programs are in place for a reason. Not all learn in the same ways, and need a variety of choices to learn how to acheive their goals.

optimism - I LEARNED coping, teamwork and respect in highschool WITHOUT participating in sports. I also learned the periodic table, which I NEEDED to know in college. Knowing how to play a sport was not a prerequisite for any of my classes, however, knowing chemistry was.

URGH. THis is exactly why our Earth is in such a devistating state. There are way too many cheifs and not nearly enough Indians. Everyone thinks they have the right way to do things, rather than uniting and doing what is best for our society as a whole. Let's not blame these school board officials until we have walked a day in their shoes. They obviously have been trained in what they propose, and that is why they hold the chair. If you all would just look at your own grocery bill, and admit that it has increased over the year, than you will not be able to deny that the costs of food to the schools have also increased, so why shouldn't they be compensated for their extra expenses. Sounds to me another "you owe me" attitude. Nothing is free, and you need to pay for inflation whether it is in the grocery store or the cafeteria line.

Whybesad thinks $36,000 for an insurance consultant is a waste but $20,000 for 10 girls to play hockey is just fine. If the consultant isn't paying for themselves in savings, cut it. A 7-2 vote makes me believe they are.

With the liabilities schools have, do you really think that they WOULDN'T have an insurance consultant?? Seriously, you don't really think that schools just miraculously know what to do in every situation on their own do you?

The school district has an insurance consultant? There's money well spent. kudos for Mr. Cullen in his voting. He seems to have more common sense than other board members. So, our tax dollars pay a insurance consultant $36,000 to do what?

No Offense Granny...but how many of those parents that have children who can't afford to eat lunch at school can afford to smoke and visit taverns? Just saying...

I don't understand why lunches have to go up there are parents that can't afford them now and they are told that they make too much money for free or reduced lunches. So some students can't eat lunch at school.

Wahoo....playing sports is NOT useless knowledge. It shows teamwork, respect and coping mechanisms. That is just to name a few. Can you say the knowledge of the scientific table attributes the same? Sports are also a great incentive for children who may otherwise not care about their grades. They have to remain a passing student to participate in sports...therefore, they are diciplining themselves to acheive a goal. They also keep kids off of the streets and out of trouble. As far as the cost of lunches going up, OF COURSE they were bound to go up. My grocery bill certainly has, why wouldn't a school's? I am all for paying for my child to eat healthy at school, and the meals they receive at school are still less expensive than it would cost to pack a healthy lunch every day.

Titans-what extracurricular activities are you talking about adding fees too? Most my children are in have hefty fees and fundraisers already.

Why are we spending all this money on sports? How many kids are really benefiting. Why not just cut all the sports,and re-invest this money back into the schools. For example, would this money be better used to help children with disabilites. I played sports in high school and one I graduated, it was useless knowledge.

Diamondback,

I didnt have a say in adding a new sport, and if I did I probably would have voted against it.

I find it hard to believe the Lobyist and teacher in-service speakers were not already under budget review, Blatantly cutting those programs just for girls hockey, without other consideration is wrong. I not sure the article, tells the whole story (I guess, I am putting a little faith in the school board)

I think you missed the point of my comment though. My comment was a way the extra-curricular orginizations could pitch in more, and price increase for attendance would help. Hopefully stopping the need for another set of cuts.

I also think athletics and extra curricular activities have thier place in high school. They give students an adiditonal reason to be there and enjoy the experience. I had the pleasure of attending the Parker Academic Awards on Monday Night and throughout the freshman to senior classes you saw several 1,2,3 sport athletes, members of the band, choir and drama department all recieving high honors. High school is an experience, not just ABC's and 123's, congratulations to those who can find the balance and were recognized Monday night.

I know a lot of teachers that would be thanking the district for taking away guest speakers and some of the other training that has been given.

titans1988-Amazing with all your numbers and figures :)... NOT ONE word on teacher training money being used on a SPORT ... As in my last post go figure :( This town needs to get back to the basics!!! (like that will ever happen)JSD will still have their sports SAD !!SAD !!!SAD !!!!

I wish the school district would make the "Athletic Fee" a "co-curricular fee" and have all extra curricular activities help offset the budget deficiencies. The rate would have to be prorated (reduced) for clubs and student orginizations. There would also need to be a cap on per family fees, I would be concerned to see individual families with 2 kids in school paying close to $1000.00 a year in athletic fees, on top of actively supporting the booster clubs which already defray the overall costs of these sports.

In addition I would rather see the ticket prices raised, in a structure manner:

1.Student Athletic Pass, no change
2.Student Ticket Price at gate/door raised from 2 dollars to 3 dollars.
3.Child Single Season Pass - Cost=(# of home games x 2.00).
4.Child Single Game at gate raised from 2 to 3 dollars.
5.Adult Single Season Pass- Cost=(# of home games x 3.00).
6.Adult Single Game at gate raised from 3 to 5 dollars.
7.All Parker/Craig football game included in each schools football season home game count.
8.Passes issued per person for single sport season: football, girls basketball, boys basketball, etc.

This type of structure, not perfect by any means, would not add to the burden on the high school students or loyal fans/booster who are at alost every home game. Leaving the "visitors" to pay the same rate Janesville fans pay when they "visit" other schools in the Big Eight.

Let me get this right ??? The school board is taking money ear-marked for teachers training and giving it to girls hockey??????....What is wrong with this school district ? Millions of dollars for 2 high schools.....Will we have any teachers in those classrooms ? Oh but wait a minute we will have one more sport that we DON'T need.I just don't get this district most school districts would love to have what we have or should I say COULD HAVE !!! Stop with kids /familes won't be able too pay to play. Last time I knew school was for abc's and 123 and getting students ready for the real world.

My daughter had Mrs. Brewer at Parker and she was a wonderful, energetic teacher. It is really sad to lose her. Good luck to her!