Bret Apthorpe

I hope you and your family are doing well during these are unprecedented times. For the first time in recent history, we have to present a school budget based largely on speculation due to the financial impact of the coronavirus.

Even though there are some aspects of the budget process that are out of our control, we can control our district priorities. The Board of Education and I have placed a priority on student and staff safety, quality of instruction and no increase to property taxes.

We know that student and staff safety is one of our community’s major concerns, The JPS 2020-21 budget supports training and equipment required to reopen school safely in the fall. The way we deliver instruction and provide safety protocols for students and staff in a post-COVID-19 world requires a great deal of preparation.

We also know that the biggest impact on student achievement is our teachers. Faced with making dramatic budgetary reductions, we purposely avoided as many layoffs as possible. We were able to eliminate 40 positions, while only having to lay off seven people. We never want to see anyone laid off but these seven positions include administrators, teachers, and Civil Service staff.

Finally, we recognize the financial hardships this virus has placed on our community. There is no property tax increase in this budget.

This is truly a “pandemic budget,” but we have created a responsible budget based on these three major goals: student and staff safety, quality of instruction and no increase to property taxes. If you are a registered voter, please complete the absentee ballot sent to you in the mail. The District Clerk must receive all absentee ballots, by mail or in person, by 5 p.m. on June 9 to be counted in this year’s vote.

We thank the Jamestown community for the many ways it supports our schools all year long. It truly takes a village to raise a child. During these unprecedented times, Jamestown Public Schools has seen the incredible efforts that everyone in our community has made to help our kids and their families.

Stay safe and healthy,

Bret Apthorpe, Ed.D