Residents of the Tecumseh Local School district are invited to attend a community meeting that has been scheduled for Wednesday, May 19, 2010.  The meeting will be held at Tecumseh Middle School cafeteria and will begin at 7 PM.

The purpose of the meeting is to share your input regarding some important decisions the board must make in the next few months.  The decisions have to do with the current programs we have in place for our students that are above state minimum.

Our district, like many others, is at a point where we’ll be in a deficit situation  within the next 18 months unless we get additional revenue or eliminate most, if not all, programs that we have above state minimum. 

The district has faced this issue several times in the past and has been unable to pass a levy for additional revenue.  Levy failures have led to over $4 million in cost containment measures since 2003.  There’s not a great deal left above state minimum to cut and we believe it is important to listen to our residents before either putting a levy on the ballot or making the final set of cuts available to us before state takeover. 

At the meeting we’ll review our 5-year forecast, which gives details regarding the financial health of the district.  We’ll talk about the funding options available to us and also share the programs that are above state minimum and therefore programs that could be candidates for elimination. 

We’ll then ask those in attendance a series of questions using a small group consensus decision-making process.  The information gathered from these questions will be considered in future decisions about district finance  and programs.

The members of the Tecumseh Local Schools Board of Education and district administration want to make the best decisions  possible regarding the district and it is our firm belief that the best decision is an informed decision.  Please join us on May 19!