It’s safe to say that without funding from the government, North Star would look very different. From free school lunches to art and music programs, money from local, state, and federal governments allows our school to let us get the most out of our education. Unfortunately, in the upcoming school year, budget cuts will be taking place all throughout the district. But how will these funding cuts affect students, teachers, and parents?
This dilemma falls to the NSA’s site council to decide. The site council is a meeting of about eight people that is held every first Tuesday of the month. Ms. Tickel, who is a member of the site council, describes their role as “dealing with things like budgets, but also just trying to make sure that North Star gets all of the things that it needs.” Dealing exclusively with issues pertaining to North Star, the site council is open to any parent, teacher, or admin member that wants to get involved in the planning of the school.
It’s unclear exactly why the budget cuts, which will be coming into effect during 2026-2027, are happening, but Ms. Tickel has a pretty good idea. “My understanding of the budget cuts is because we had some additional funds in COVID that were given to all of California,” Ms. Tickel explains, “so with those additional funds, we were able to have lots of programs set in place, but those funds have expired. And so with that, the district has to make budget cuts, because they just don’t have the money from there.” Ms. Kekos, who is also a member of the site council, agrees with Ms. Tickel and says that the federal and state governments are experiencing budget cuts with the new administration, so the district subsequently needs to cut funding.
The budget cuts aren’t unique to North Star, but schools will feel the effects of the lowered funding very differently. North Star wasn’t receiving much money from the district to begin with, as we’re fortunate to have a very generous parent club that takes care of many of NSA’s funding needs. “Our cuts probably will not be as dramatic,” Ms. Tickel adds, “but we also didn’t get very much to begin with.” Other schools that relied more heavily on money from the government will definitely see much more drastic cuts.
As for how the site council will be dealing with the budget cuts, Ms. Kekos has some ideas. “Once we learn the amount of money we have, we can poll the parent club for what they want the money to go to, and see how we want the money to be distributed.” It has been very challenging for the site council to decide on what to cut, she adds, because the site council wants to give scholars as much as possible to help them learn.
Because the site council doesn’t know what the budget cuts will be, it’s hard for either Ms. Tickel or Mrs. Kekos to guess how, exactly, students and parents will be affected. “We’re unsure of any changes students might notice,” elaborates Mrs. Kekos, “but we will try not to make any changes.”
As the site council meets throughout the year, they will consider their options for cutting funding and gradually make decisions. The budget cuts will most likely not have a huge impact on the everyday life of NSA scholars, but if you have questions, you can reach out to Ms. Kekos at [email protected].
