A34-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 19, 1993
Proposed Ephrata School Cuts May Have Drastic Impact On Ag Programs
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Staff
EPHRATA (Lancaster Co.)
Quality of agricultural programs
for the Ephrata High School could
be jeopardized if a proposed
1993-1994 school Financial budget
package, which cuts ag operating
funds substantially, is passed by
the Ephrata High School board,
according to members of the
board’s ag advisory committee.
Members of the board have been
assembling at various public meet
ings scheduled throughout the
month to hear and discuss reac
tions by the public to the proposed
budget. A final vole on the budget
is set Monday at 7:30 p.m. in the
school’s Audion Room.
The proposal, which will affect
about 90 students enrolled for next
school year, was enacted as a result
of a shortfall of necessary funds
and takes the place of a previously
proposed hike in mills, recently
rejected by the board.
The proposed cuts in the budget
to the agricultural program, in
which final action won’t be taken
until after the meeting of the board
Monday, includes halving the
operating budget from $23,910 to
$12,190. It also includes slashing
the number of contract days (bey
ond the regular school days to
oversee FFA student activity
enterprises, weekend programs,
fair involvement, and other events)
from 28 days per ag teacher to 13
days. If passed, travel expenses
will be docked from $6,000 to
$2,750.
Proposed reduction
One of the major impacts on the
quality of the ag programs will be
the proposed reduction in contract
days from 28 to IS, according to
Ernest Orr, chairman of the ag
department.
“You cannot have a quality
program in 15 days,” said Orr.
“It’s impossible. It’s impossible to
have quality with 28 or 30 days.”
Orr said the contract days allow
ag instructors time to visit incom
ing ninth graders and to travel dur
At a puolic meeting of the committee of the whole at the
school Monday night, Kerry E. Boyd, chairman of the Ephra
ta Vo Ag Advisory Committee, outlined questions about the
proposed ag program budget. Boyd asked the board, if the
budget is cut 45-55 percent, will teachers have the time and
resources to allow the operation of a meaningful Vo Ag
program?
ing the summer to inspect the stu
dents’ supervised ag experience
(SAE) projects, which are essen
tial to FFA involvement
Also, the proposed contract day
and travel expense cutbacks will
severely impact the ability of
FFA’ers and students to travel to
shows.
“It does not give us any time to
go to the dairy shows, the hog
shows, or things like that,’’ said
Orr.
Orr said the proposal would eli
minate at least 75 percent of all
field trips. Trips to projects spon
sored by the Chesapeake Bay
Foundation, the Natiuonal FFA
Center, judging activities (includ
ing the Pennsylvania Farm Show),
FFA Leadership Conference, East
ern Regional Leadership Confer
ence, and a “whole gamut of
things,’’ are in jeopardy and could
be eliminated, according to Orr.
“We have to pick and choose
which field trips to take, ’ ’ said Orr.
“And field trips really are the
backbone of ag.”
Orr said that while the school is
in a budget crunch, some cutbacks
may be necessary. According to
the ag instructor, the board (which
is made up of few, if any, members
that are directly involved in ag
related industries) is looking at the
proposed budget, which may eli
minate a great deal of other school
programs, as a way to spread the
cuts evenly.
Found problem
According to Ephrata school
board president GaryG. Kraffl, the
board found a potential problem
regarding funding last July which
indicated a need for more funds to
meet expenses (the state was not
considering increasing the funds
necessary to continue to operate).
Also, the country’s general eco
nomic slowdown has lessened
revenues to the extent that the mil
lage, as a result of new develop
ment, could not be increased.
The board decided it needed to
“use assets more wisely” and to
develope a new or changed metho
dology to reduce the cost of deliv-
The proposed cuts in the budget to the agricultural program, in which final action
won't betaken until alterthe meeting of the board Monday, includes nearly halving the
operating budget from $23,910 to $13,190. It also includes slashing the number of con
tract days (beyond the regular school days to oversee FFA student activity enter
prises, weekend programs, fair involvement, and other events) from 28 days per ag
teacher to 15 days. If passed, travel expenses will be docked from $6,000 to $2,750.
Board members from left, John K. Griffith, Drew A. Myers, Gary G. Krafft, Dr. Theodore
L. Soistmann, Jr., Shirley L. Lapi, Harry L. Shaub, Jr., Barbara L. Stauffer, Fred M. Tho
mas, and Stephen E. White. Photo by Andy Andrews
ering the same product (in this
case, student learning), according
to Krafft.
The board presented the propos
al to the administration “to come
forward with some type of prog
ram to achieve this goal,” he told
Lancaster Farming.
Public meeting
At a public meeting of the com
mittee of the whole at the school
Monday night, Kerry E. Boyd,
chairman of the Ephrata Vo Ag
Advisory Committee, outlined
questions about the proposed
budget. According to Boyd, the
following questions need to be
answered:
• If the budget is cut 45-55 per
cent, will teachers have the time
and resources to allow the opera
tion of a meaningful Vo Ag
program?
• With a growth of 20 percent in
enrollment in the program within
two years, and a projected growth
of 20 percent, how can the board
expect Vo Ag teachers to continue
the high standards of excellence
this program has shown over the
years, and how can they provide
the time and resources necessary
for students to excel and mentally
grow?
• Boyd emphasized the lack of
vital time needed for summer and
weekend programs which allow
students to grow in leadership and
other life-long skills.
He made the following
recommendations:
• The extra contract days for the
two ag teachers not be cut further
than 28 days they each receive. If
possible, reinstate some of the 45
days per teacher they used to have.
• That the board reconsider the
large cut in travel expenses, which
support field trips and worthwhile
leadership experiences that help
students grow and develop within
the Vo Ag program.
Boyd said that he understood the
challenges facing the board and
that some cuts may be necessary
for the school to function.
Reconsider budget
At Monday night’s meeting, the
committee reviewed the proposed
budget and answered questions
from the public. About 60 attended
the meeting, which included a
large number of farmers and those
involved in agribusiness in the
county.
All voiced their support for con
tinuation of the ag program and
that the school board should recon
sider the proposed budget and, if
cuts are necessary, treat all prog
rams equally.
The board responded by saying
that some administrative programs
could not be cut, including all con
tract salaries.
Board president Krafft indicated
that while cuts are important, what
is more important is to rethink
ways to improve the program,
because budgeting is a 12-month
of-the-year job.
School board member Barbara
L. Stauffer asked the board to
reconsider the proposal regarding
the ag program cuts, because they
were “probably hitting this area a
little too hard." She asked the
board to do some readjusting of the
proposal.
Situation unique
According to Barry Oswald,
state ag advisor in the Pennsylva
nia Department of Education, what
Gphrata High School is facing is
unique, considering the large
amount of ag industry common to
the county.
If enacted, the cuts could have
an affect on schools facing similar
situations. Ag budgets could be
affected in other schools, but the
result of what happens at Ephrata
may or may not have a direct
impact on other schools in the
state.
Most of the time, according to
Oswald, it is the schools exper
iencing a steady decline in ag
enrollment that suffer budget cut
backs to their ag programs.
Ephrata’s situation is unique,
according to Oswald, because the
program is actually experiencing a
growth in ag program involve
ment. The situation in Ephrata “is
undoubtedly a lot different,’’ he
said, because of the steadily
increasing enrollment of (he stu
dents in ag-related courses.
Oswald said he was concerned
that schools may beging to look
hard at their proposed budgets and
the situation * ‘may open some eyes
and it may prompt board members
to look critically at what others
might do,” he said.
Regardless of what happens,
according to Oswald, each school
MILK.
IT DOES A
BODY good:
operates as an independent, unique
entity its ways of handling
budgetary problems are central to
the school itself.
Why downsize?
At a curriculum meeting early
this month, Sam Beamesderfer, of
Gehman’s Feed Mill in Denver,
also spoke about the need for the
board to reconsider the proposal.
He said the ag program in a city
such as Philadelphia has more
applicants than (he program will
accept.
“Why does a city school offer
agriculture courses and we are
considering downsizing our prog
ram when we are in the ‘garden
spot’ of the country?” said
Beamesderfer.
“I can related the encourage
ment and persuasiveness the ag
teachers had on my life,” he said.
‘ ‘Without their help and concern, 1
would not have accomplished or
achieved some of the things I have
in my life. I do not know of any
other program in the school that
could have done what the ag prog
ram did for me.”
Ag isn’t needed?
At Monday’s meeting. Dale
Martin, an Ephrata farmer who
lives near the school, asked the
board members, “Have we in the
Ephrata School District gotten to
the point where ag isn’t needed
anymore?” He asked the board
members to think about develop
ing long-range plans regarding the
ag program in the school.
In an agriculturally rich area
such as Ephrata, cutbacks in ag
budgets shouldn’t be happening,
according to Orr. At Monday
night’s meeting, he described a
survey recently conducted which
showed that 80 percent of those
who took ag courses in the school
took up a career in agribusiness.
“The shame is,” said Orr, “if
Ephrata was located in the middle
of lowa, I mean, that’s all that
would be here. There’s too much
diversity in the county for people
to appreciate the ag that’s here.
The amount of agricultural busi
ness in this county is phenomenal.
But no one appreciates it.”