Note from Mr. Lyons

PRINCIPAL NOTES – This week my kindergartner asked me “where does money come from?” I went on to explain how dollar bills are actually a note or a representation of money and how the Department of Treasury has the United States Mint which does the actual manufacturing of the money. It was in this discussion that I drew upon the thought that the Pine Glen Winter Carnival is really where the Pine Glen P.T.O. earns the large majority of its money.


This academic year (2009-2010) we are operating on a level-budget with 0% increase with the exception of teacher salaries from the previous academic year (2008-2009). What does that mean? It means that this academic year (2009-2010) we had to buy the same amount of materials, if not more, with less money. Why is it less money? The reason it is less is because of inflation, the increase in gas prices and just the increase in goods (supply and demand). For example, one of the best products for which we have data to show us fantastic results student progress that comes to mind is the Fountas and Pinnell Level Literacy Intervention Kit. The cost of the Fountas and Pinnell kit is $2,475.00 (before shipping and tax). There was a sharp increase in cost from Spring ’08 to Fall ’09 of at least over $200.00 per kit. This kit provides the books that several, if not all, of our students read at the primary grade. As a result, the reader might wonder how did you buy more with less money? The answer, we were very creative and we had to, in some instances, buy less. The Principals’ Blog and Teacher’s Classroom Blog’s in lieu of sending out a paper notices saved hundreds of dollars. Not only is there the cost of paper but, also included is the wear on our copier machines and the ink cartridges needed by the machines. The PTO fund-raiser for the Bruins tickets allowed us to purchase many fantastic non-fiction books. The proposed budget for the upcoming academic year (2010-2011) will also be a level budget with the exception of increases in teacher’s salaries. This means that again we will be faced with the challenge of purchasing needed items which will increase in cost with less money.

PTO’s across the country have seen a sharp decline in fund-raisers. As a result, the PTO has less money to fulfill its normal yearly contributions. Businesses that used to donate a basket to the raffle didn’t this year because they went out of business. I would like to thank all those people who have volunteered to help out at the carnival and have donated items. I plan on brining my whole family to the carnival including the grandparents. The Pine Glen staff have donated items to the raffles and volunteered time. This Winter Carnival looks to be amazing. We have a hot air balloon! Money doesn’t come from being grown on Pine Glen Trees but, it’s wonderful that a lot of it comes from a fun community event. I look forward to seeing all at the Carnival and thank you for your support.