Parents Urged To Give $500 Per Child To Save Teaching Positions
School Leaders Retract Letter With Phone Call
POSTED: Friday, March 13, 2009
UPDATED: 11:04 am EDT March 13,
2009
  |
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- An Orange County principal on Thursday sent a letter to parents, asking them to contribute $500 per student to help his school save teachers' jobs amid massive budget cuts.
SURVEY: Should Parents Pay?
SOUND OFF: School Budget Crisis
Trevor Honohan, the principal at Audubon Park Elementary School, sent the two-page letter, which also offered parents the ability to purchase naming rights to classrooms, office spaces or general areas inside the school for a minimum of $10,000.In the letter, Honohan said, "my solution is simple but at the same time it will not be easy to achieve. I am asking for a financial contribution from those families who are in the position to do so."Honohan said he's written a check for $1,000 to cover his two children.Honohan said the goal is to raise $500,000, which he claims would save at least eight teaching positions.Parents were given "Honohan's Hero" pledge cards and asked to return them within five days.After learning that Honohan sent the letter, school leaders decided late Thursday to have the principal send telephone messages to the parents of Audubon Park's 875 students, telling them to disregard the letter.The phone message stated:"Hello, this is Trevor Honohan, Principal at Audubon Park Elementary School. The purpose of this phone call is to inform you that I included some premature information in my letter home to you on March 12th. In the letter I informed you that the proposed budget for the 2009-2010 school year would be at least $500,000 less than it was in 2008-2009. I have not received my formal budget yet. Therefore I cannot make this assumption. I also indicated a possibility of re-naming the school."This may not be a possibility at this time."The goal of the letter was to inform you of the budget crisis and gauge your interest level in assisting the school if need be. I appreciate the positive responses I have received and want to clear up any misconceptions derived from the letter. Thank you all for your continued support."Have a great night."Prior to news of the letter being sent out, Local 6 News on Thursday afternoon talked with Orange County Superintendent Ron Blocker, who urged lawmakers to consider dropping sales tax exemptions, which could help raise at least $224 million for schools."These are times when you have to stop thinking about the vote and start thinking about the impact you're going to have on the state, the next generation, the next 10 years," Blocker said.For more information about budget woes affecting Central Florida education, visit the following school district Web sites:Brevard CountyFlagler CountyLake CountyMarion CountyOrange CountyOsceola CountySeminole CountySumter CountyVolusia CountyWatch Local 6 News for more on this story.
SURVEY: Should Parents Pay?
SOUND OFF: School Budget Crisis
Trevor Honohan, the principal at Audubon Park Elementary School, sent the two-page letter, which also offered parents the ability to purchase naming rights to classrooms, office spaces or general areas inside the school for a minimum of $10,000.In the letter, Honohan said, "my solution is simple but at the same time it will not be easy to achieve. I am asking for a financial contribution from those families who are in the position to do so."Honohan said he's written a check for $1,000 to cover his two children.Honohan said the goal is to raise $500,000, which he claims would save at least eight teaching positions.Parents were given "Honohan's Hero" pledge cards and asked to return them within five days.After learning that Honohan sent the letter, school leaders decided late Thursday to have the principal send telephone messages to the parents of Audubon Park's 875 students, telling them to disregard the letter.The phone message stated:"Hello, this is Trevor Honohan, Principal at Audubon Park Elementary School. The purpose of this phone call is to inform you that I included some premature information in my letter home to you on March 12th. In the letter I informed you that the proposed budget for the 2009-2010 school year would be at least $500,000 less than it was in 2008-2009. I have not received my formal budget yet. Therefore I cannot make this assumption. I also indicated a possibility of re-naming the school."This may not be a possibility at this time."The goal of the letter was to inform you of the budget crisis and gauge your interest level in assisting the school if need be. I appreciate the positive responses I have received and want to clear up any misconceptions derived from the letter. Thank you all for your continued support."Have a great night."Prior to news of the letter being sent out, Local 6 News on Thursday afternoon talked with Orange County Superintendent Ron Blocker, who urged lawmakers to consider dropping sales tax exemptions, which could help raise at least $224 million for schools."These are times when you have to stop thinking about the vote and start thinking about the impact you're going to have on the state, the next generation, the next 10 years," Blocker said.For more information about budget woes affecting Central Florida education, visit the following school district Web sites:Brevard CountyFlagler CountyLake CountyMarion CountyOrange CountyOsceola CountySeminole CountySumter CountyVolusia CountyWatch Local 6 News for more on this story.
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