As students walked into the rally court on the first day of school, they were greeted by a brightly colored screen. Some students have questioned administrationís reasons for purchasing the $10,000 internal marquee on Aug. 17 rather than spending the money on new textbooks or more academic materials.

General funds

The general budget covers basic allocations, including all custodial and administrative costsówhich amounts to about $320,000.

While some funds are currently unknown due to the statewide budget crisis, the money given to the school is allocated to a general budget and several major programs. Some of those programs include English Learners, which can vary slightly but equates to about $40,000 a year, School Site Council (which is school and library improvement costs-about $45,000), the Gifted and Talented Education program which is about $6,000 and capital outlay which helps pay for desks, tables and equipment which is about $60,000.

Bond measures

A bond measure is an agreement between MVHS and FUHSD  that allows for technological expansion and pays for facilities and reservations.

ìIt provides matching dollars, so if we were to buy a computer, the technology dollars will buy two, so three for the price of one,î Principal April Scott said. ì[It] allows us to be very smart in how we keep current in technology.î

In order to approve a bond, each idea must go through stages of voting by the school parents, the community and the student body. Finally, the Board of Trustees must approve the measure.

This bond measure pays for the current replacement of the roofs, the downstairs B-building bathroom renovations and the new classrooms that will be built. The bond will also use $13 million to restore the track and field beginning this fall. The establishment of the lights is in a two week deadline with the FUHSD Board of Trustees. The gates will go up around the track and field on Sept. 19.

Grants

Grant funds are gifts given to the school by organizations such as PTSA or the Rotary Foundation. People or schools who wish to use the grant money must apply and also state their reasons for applying. If their requests are approved, the money goes to the person or school as a gift.

The PTSA raises money for the school by parent donations. Last year, the PTSA donated $10,000 to the school. Scott made the ultimate decision as to how to use that money. In previous years, it has been used for a sound system in the gym and auditorium, and on benches around the library.

ìThe things [that PTSA does for us are things] that we are not able to do just with our basic allocations,ì Scott said.ìThey are kind of the dreams, if we [were to] find a pot of gold somewhere, this is what we would love to do [with it].î

The administration has been talking about purchasing an internal marquee for a couple years as a way of posting more student specific information in a more efficient way. MVHS news is always posted on School Loop, but according to PTSA Executive Vice President Barbara Goldman ìthe internal marquee can be seen at any time and is a way the students can get information more quickly and efficiently.î

Even though some students have had feelings of discontent towards the marquee, the administration claims it was established for a specific reason using money that was given to the school. The marquee also allows parents on campus to see what is going on behind the walls of MVHS.

$10,000 on the wall by Gisella Joma is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at elestoque.org.