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School budget cuts leads to shortened school year

The unspeakable has happened to MC. Over the course of a few weeks, the PUSD staff had to make the heartbreaking decision to shut down MC for the rest of the year, due to finances. 

Mt-Carmel-School Closed NEW
Photo manipulated by Suds Srinivasan

“As of today, I regret deeply to inform all staff, students, and parents that due to immense budget cuts, the school will be closed after spring break ends,” an anonymous district employee said.

With the economy in the shape that it is, it was only a matter of time for this stunning announcement to be made.

“It eventually came down to finances,” the employee said. “Money ended up getting cut so tight that now the school cannot even afford to pay the teachers, let alone the many activities that this school has offered all these years.”

A lot of these cuts were made due to the many difficult attempts to raise money at this school, such as the cancelled Hoopcoming dance.

The cuts began in the small organizations, such as yearbook and newspaper, but then it began to spread to the athletic department, until it full out struck the entire school, taking the teachers salaries with it.

With all these cuts being made, teachers are beginning to feel less and less inclined to teach to their full ability, considering that in the end they might not even receive their full paycheck.

“It is difficult knowing that when I give my best effort to enrich the minds of these students, I may not get anything in return,” teacher Andrew Ramos said. “Why should I try?”

The school has ended prematurely before, but never this drastically. In 2009, the year ended early by only a week due to the immense amount of cuts made. Also, in 2011, the school was cut by only one day after PUSD considered the cost of graduation that year. However, no one was prepared for a nine week cut out of the school year.

“I am already seeing how damaging this is to our staff and students,” a PUSD worker said. “Working in the credits to get this last trimester to count for all our students is really taking a toll on our counselors as well.”

Not only has halting this school year affected the staff, but it has also begun to affect the athletes at this school as well.”

“It is really hard, watching our season being brought to an end considering we have only just begun,” sophomore and swimmer Charles Donnelly said. “We have just begun to get to know our team, and now it is just ending?”

The shock of this sudden conclusion to the 2014 school year is still settling in the campus as more and more students hear the shocking news.

As parents call the school demanding information of this sudden close, the staff has been swamped with paperwork and the voices of parents who feel they were “misinformed.”

“The district has been doing all they can to keep us afloat,” another PUSD employee said. “The other schools have been hit with these budget cuts as well, they were just more prepared.”

But why such a long cut? Why can it not be only a few days or maybe even a week?

“In the end, when the numbers were crunched, there was absolutely no way to keep this school open without losing more money than we had in the first place,” a PUSD employee said. “If we were to remain open until the end of the year, we would have to rely completely on volunteers, and sadly, most people aren’t comfortable with that.”

So as spring break rapidly approaches, the school prepares for its final days of the 2014 school year.

“It truly is heartbreaking that this is happening now,” a PUSD employee said. “However, I know everyone will continue to follow the Sundevil Way and come out of this even stronger in the end. We’ll just see you in August.”

The SUN staff wish you a very happy April Fool’s Day! Enjoy and prank away! 

Written by Morgan Lanyon

Morgan is a senior at Mt. Carmel High School. She is kept constantly busy with varsity field hockey, Hebrew school, swim team, and being the co-Editor in Chief of the MC Sun. She has a problem with watching too much TV, and eating an excessive amount of snacks. She knows the lyrics to practically every Billy Joel song, and doesn't care who knows. She also knows about most celebrities, and can answer your questions almost as fast as the internet.

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