A Reduction in Force Motion was set for the Macomb School Board, which means that layoffs had to be made. One of the employees who was let go happens to be a high school basketball coach for the Macomb High School. Jeremy Anderson was hired to work as a physical education teacher and was also hired separately to work as the high school basketball coach for the boys’ team. Many of the assistants for different school programs have been let go and will no longer be working during the next school year.

One board member, Ardell Thompson, says that the assistant who were let go were very important employees and says that the school board is sad to see them go. He also says that he hopes that there is the possibility of getting these employees back. However, that decision will ultimately depend on what the budget looks like for the fiscal year.

Along with these layoffs, the school board also accepted Jeff Thorman’s resignation. Thorman was working as the girls’ basketball coach for the high school. They also accepted Anthony Gonzales’ resignation, as he was once the boys and girls swim coach.

Other adjustments were made by the school board as a way of dealing with budget cuts. Such adjustments include increasing the price for daily lunches for kids. The price for lunch has been raise by 10 percent per student. Each student will have to pay a certain amount for their meal. Children who are in preschool up until third grade will need to pay $1.85. Children in fourth grade to sixth grade will be paying $2 for lunch. And, students in the seventh grade through twelfth grade will now be paying $2.05 for lunch. Not everyone is happy with this but the board says that it is something they had to do. The board says that the price increase will not be affecting any students who receive free meals due to being from a low-income family.

There have been new versions of federal guidelines made for school lunches, in which school districts must charge the right amount in order to increase revenue and bring it close to being able to reimburse for the meals that are subsidized. The school districts will also need to offer plenty of fruits and veggies to the students.

Driving education for students will be increase by approximately $25, meaning each student will need to pay $75. Right now, times are tough for schools and they have to figure out a way to make up for the budget cuts that are taking place. At this point, it is important for all staff members to work together to figure out how to meet the different challenges, especially when it comes to dealing with cuts.