A group of desperate high school students band together to protest against the cutting of their beloved under-funded classes. Although those students win at the end, the issues occurring within school budgeting is a real and, frankly, a disappointing problem. 

On Feb. 6, the Altoona School Board had a meeting centered around budgeting and financing. The amount of money that goes into the school changes roughly every month, and the prices are becoming unattainable. 

Student activities make up 1.53 percent of total expenditures, maintenance takes up 9.8 percent and transportation, salaries, benefits, retirement and cyber school take up 81.0 percent. With all those factors at play, the costs can become pricey.

Luckily, the school was able to make use of the ESSER funds, which is a system introduced where COVID-19 response efforts were granted for schools to spend said funds on allowable activities. The state of Pennsylvania was given $523.8 million. 

Summer school, ACA salaries, maintenance and emergency paid leave fall under the category of ESSER I. The ACA,  windows and planet projectors fall under the category of ESSER II. Finally, the GACTC, technology, substitute teachers and retention bonuses fall under the category of ESSER III.

Despite those funds being helpful to budget in hindsight, there never is a halt in the overspendage of money. The school’s goal is to reduce the budget by $438,000. With that goal being set, sacrifices are threatened to be made.

Plausible reductions briefly discussed were: the public library, meal money, instructional programs, principal office sharing, split nurse’s offices and closing the swimming pool. Although, these reductions are not recommended, for they would cause a plethora of new, unrelated problems. 

Class wise, there were arguments and discussions about cutting astronomy. Students can only take the class two years in a row, the first year only being a semester, But, the overall majority of the students who have taken astronomy have enjoyed it greatly, and it would be a shame to see it get taken away from incoming students. 

Even though there are many factors the school is able to control, there are still moving parts that can’t ever be changed. For example, local tax burdens, special education and cyber accountability. Along with this, Altoona isn’t in financial recovery or on financial watch. Therefore, Altoona isn’t in need of stable outside help. 

As for money, there are always going to be problems with it. Some may be more evident than others, but it’s an issue the school board is attempting to fix. Unfortunately, getting rid of things valuable to many may earn the school more, but cost a lot of heartbreak among students and teachers.