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Show 4 Tuesday, August 30. 1994 Forum Community, STEIEETTAm.,. businesses can help What residents of Davis County think about the issues What about more money for Davis School District? education By NORA JACKSON Cmw, Imk ScNwi The Davit School Ditirict it the 6Ht large! uhool dtmt in the nation. The Tucton Unified School Ditirut it ranked 60th and the Portland School District it 62nd. Boih of thovc ditirwit to more than twice a Davit County's $2,703 per pupil by io-thir- d much. ked what In teveral random interviews, area resident were innovative and creauve wat could be uted to raite the amount of money for the Davit district to tpend on each student per pupil in lermt of hiring more teachers and having more school. alto atked what could be done to Improve the tax bate They for the ditirict. f oufvuiion oui-tpcn- d IfuMMrf W lakeside Review John F. Kennedy said, The urengih of a nation or a communibe seen by the value ty can it places on future generations." Is the lifeblood of our fu- la ture, With tight school budgets and a rapidly increasing student enrollment, preparing students for the future is a responsibility our community must share. Debl Richards Fruit Heights I think they woulJ have to raite taxes, or there thould be head taxes or certain taxes for families who have children in school. They could pay more taxes. "I think (the district) is seeking out support from pnvaic companies and getting support there, w hich helps. I think they do quite well with the resources they have, considering they have so many Quest Columnist The Davis School District I oun dation has actively worked over the past five years to strengthen the environment in which area businesses. patrons, civic organizations and PTAs can contribute to our schools and educational programs. When the foundation was first established in 1988, its mission was to secure contributions from private sources to fund enrichment and learning projects not funded through the normal budgetary process in our Davis County schools. As great as the need is to supplement tax dollars, the citizens who serve on the foundations board of trustees find that education and training to strengthen our students can no longer simply be the responsibility of teachers and administrators. Now, more than ever, help is needed from the business leaders in the community. The needs of the 70 schools in the Davis School District are diverse. students. I wouldn't suggest things like that. think you have to put the responsibility on the people. They have to support the school system. Property taxes need to be higher. I dont think the property taxes arc very high here compared to other states that Ive lived in. I've lived in New York and Michigan where the taxes are significantly higher than they are here. A lot more money goes to the school districts out of the property taxes." 1 High schools can use internships to prepare students to go from school directly to work. Many schools benefit from donations for computer labs funecessary for Utahs high-tec- h for libraries and books adopture, tion of rooms and complexes. in-ki- nd Dis- Excellence awards to schools in our district which had made application. Thirty-eigh- t separate projects were funded at 29 schools. The Davis Incentives program addresses local support with funds raised through the foundation. site-bas- ed Through this program 19 additional projects totalling $21,000 at 18 schools were funded. The majority of the projects were submitted by individual teachers attempting to enhance their classroom teaching. foundation-sponsore- d Medal Excellence scholarships, now $1,000 each, are awarded to a senior at each Davis district high school. The of With the support of area businesses, these scholarships are prestigious awards, recognizing students who would often not receive financial support e-based LETTERS ' Roads of the past The Old Dirt Road: I remember so well an old dirt road That warmed my feet, no matter how cold. I liked to sit down and push the dirt in a pile. I'd pick the dirt up in the palm of my hands. Through my fingers would fall, the part that was sand. In the early morning, the dirt road was cool. Always blackened my socks, when I walked to school. Way down the road, came a big cloud of dust That would change directions with every wind gust It seemed like forever before I could see, If someone was coming to visit with me. More often than not, the vehicle flew right on by, With the wave of a hankie, or a masculine cry. Seemed only a blink before it was gone. And the dirt settled down where & it belonged. When I was young, the dirt road at-ri- self-estee- m It is the goal of the foundation in the next year to develop more partnerships with Davis County schools and the community, establish ongoing dialogue, provide an awareness and understanding of needs and resources, and collaborate to improve educational programs responsive to the needs of the students and the community. We know how vital this is for helping our children prepare for their future. And what affects them, afreets all of us. For more information about the foundation and how companies and individuals can target specific schools or projects with all proceeds or donated materials helping children, please call Davis School District Foundation executive director Nancy Lyon at 451-118- 0. didnt end. Every few miles lived a relative or friend. The Lakeside Review encourages readers to submit letters' to the editor. Content of letters should address issues of interest to our readership throughout north Davis County. Letters should be typed, double-spaceand must include the name and telephone number of the writer for verification purposes, i Shorter letters are more likely to be published. Letters will also be edited, if necessary, to meet journalistic standards of good taste. With few exceptions, letters must be accompanied by the writers name when published, j Send all letters to the Lakeside $ Review, 2146 N. Main, Layton, UT, S4Q41 i of the Caning justified after van marred by graffiti Wheres the bamboo stick? Monday night Aug. 22, 1994, my Everything froze and the road had three tracks. sons white van was parked in our driveway. Except for the slide ruts and the drifting snow packs. During the night someone saw fit to paint graffiti on the drivers side. Now this makes me very angry and Spring was the villain, that started the thaw. embarrassed. Your boots stuck so often, your would get a mud bath. Lifted acorns from reach scampering squirrels. Maurine Fergueson Layton Till a few tire tracks threw the dirt back in sight And weeds and grass, and ers that made me sneeze. into whirls. ( I was thinking about 40 years ago and how the roads are now. God bless you kids, who have to learn to drive now. You are sure going to need His help.) ; The snow fell real soft, turned everything white. feet would get raw. Then winter winds blew the dirt high-spee- d, In the fall it was covered with acorns and leaves. flow- side to side. The road would dry hard, with ruts up and down. , It was rough and bumpy on the trip into town. Summer would come and the p road smoothed its shape. You would head on down, bare feet, fishing pole and bait. The dirt road is gone, and there in its place, A big super highway, built for a race. d Were supposed to be thankful for progress were told. Well Im thankful Ive memories of the Old Dirt Road. Letters policy remembered fondly colleg- For the past two years, the foundation has been a designated agency of United Way of Davis County. Contributions are designated for student projects, including math clubs, reading intervention, latch-ke- y programs, comprehensive guidance and counseling, and tutoring programs. know the Davis School District is one of the that has multiple superintendents. They have superintendents to take care of everything, even buses. They have superintendents over superintendents. They spend way too much money on salaries, too much money on public relation types of things and lobbying the Legislature when they could more efficiently use their funds. I think thats the key to what Davis needs to do as opposed to the other districts. The type of salary they pay their people here seems to be higher than other parts of the country that Ive lived in; I mean the administrative staff. They have principals, vice principals, assistants, teachers aides and assistants and so forth. They are paying people to go out on the playground and stand around to watch the kids doing what teachers used to do and they get paid to do. Now were paying for those functions as opposed to hiring more teachers or building more schools. They are paying for staff that they dont need to pay for, theyve never paid for in the past In the other school districts in other states that Im familiar with, they dont do that Theyre more efficient with their money. They would rather hire a teacher than hire five playground supervisors. Ive lived in southeast part of the country, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, South Carolina, Boston end that area along the East Coast What they could do to get more money is to apply for more grant funding from the federal government I know some districts have tried to get federal grants for computer hardware and things like that they can apply to a lot of major foundations and corporations for that For instance, I work for MCI and am the representative for foundation money for funding for institutional organizations; all they have to do is qualify. There are many corporations who do that. The only problem is that those corporations also require funding to be delivered on some kind of reciprocal basis. For instance, computer programs such as UNISYS, they do Davis Countys computer systems by the way, they would give funding and computer hardware and so forth, but it would have to be based on only UNISYS systems, it couldnt be based on anyone elses computer platform. The reciprocal part of that is the expensive part. Another thing is that by doing some other creative things with other major corporations, they would not only get funding but their computer hardware, software, additional instruction, additional materials, volunteers from these companies and if they were careful with the reciprocal arrangements, they would be able to eliminate some of the hardware theyve got and get more computer hardware and software. They paid multimillion dollars for the system theyve got when they should have looked at other computer vendors and other telecommunications companies and found creative ways to make and save money. I few districts Some businesses provide internships, giving students an excellent opportunity to investigate various vocations. Last fall the Davis School s. Layton ing and mathematics. trict Foundation disbursed more than $50,000 of state Incentives for fund-raiser- Gary Chadwick Elementary schools need tutoring and mentoring partnerships. Businesses can assist by allowing their workers time to work in these schools, helping students with read- Many of the donations can be doubled with matching grants from the Utah Incentives for Excellence and the Davis Incentives program. dont like I Its a shame that a citizen of Roy City cant have a visiting family from out of state park safely in their own drive way. Pushing someone stuck, you law-abidi- If I knew who was responsible for this mischief I would be the first to vote for 10 whacks with the When they were free, you would wave goodbye and laugh. Sometimes you would run to jump in and ride. They couldnt stop as they slide bamboo stick. J. Kap te Susan Adams Layton Were supposed to have free education here. We cant charge students for anything, so they say. However, in California, my sister-in-lapays for busing her children, about $150 a year, which I think is a lot. But maybe that would help with some of the busing problems we have here. Theyre trying to take some away. It seems to me that maybe parents could donate more of their own school supplies instead of having the school paying for all of those. One thing we do at East Layton that seems to work is that the PTA has a donation drive; instead of raising money for the PTA, they ask people to donate money for school activities. They use it for their expenses for school activities like a reading program or science fair, to help pay for these things. They do that s, which people dont usually care for instead of having very much. Maybe the district needs to have a bake sale, sell cookies. I honestly dont know. Its a terrible problem. I know one thing they could do, that would be maybe cut back on their administration costs. They do have a lot of people who work in the district offices. We do need teachers, but sometimes we dont need as many clerks, secretaries and things like that w fund-raiser- Roy GovEn::irrr directory Commissioner Gayle Stevenson (R) Davis County Courthouse E State Farmington, Utah 84025 Office 451-32Commissioner J. Dell Holbrook 28 00 28 (R) Davis County Courthouse 9 Home Clinton City Council Mayor DaMar Mitchell 1 Home 773-619- 451-320- 773-583- Dennis Simonsen 825-583- 825-556- D) Davis County Courthouse E State Farmington. Utah 84025 Office 451-32Commissioner Carol R. 28 E State Farmington, Utah 84025 0 Office Clearfield City Council Mayor Nekton Hamblin 9 Home E. Gene Fsssler 4 Home Paul E. Poorte 6 Home Diane Layton 5 Home 776-086- 773-291- 825-784- Page Don Ormaby 5 Home Martin Eliason 773-801- Home 825-84Arverd Taylor 3 Home Kenneth Barlow 5 Home Watt Hokanson Home 773-43Bill Rueeell Home 825-93Farmington City Council 773-841- ' 80 Mayor Gregory S Bell Home 451-72- Pat Achter Home 451-50Gary E. Elliott 3 Home James C. Parsell Home 451-23Tammy Boyce Home 451-53David M. Connors 1 Home 451-245- 451-283- Fruit Heights City Council Mayor Richard L Harvey Home 544-4368 Richard Muhlestein Home 544-17Tina LePendu Home 546-37L Dale Green Home 544-86Daniel J. Phelps 9 Home 39 89 547-012- Kaysville City Council Mayor Art Johnson 8 Home 544-844- Joe Hill Home 544-32- Cherie Goodifffe Home 544-433- 6 |