Recently, DPS has determined that the amount of new students next year will be lower and schools will also have less money. Unfortunately, this means that there is not enough money to pay teachers, meaning some must lose their jobs. However, McAuliffe will be hit exceptionally hard.

Electives will be significantly depleted. The entire journalism department will be cut, along with all the teachers and the school news site. In addition, one of the PE teachers will also be cut. This could result in more crowded PE classes for us. The band elective will also be partially cut. Half of the band teachers will be laid off, and there will also be half as many band students and supplies (instruments, music stands, etc.) next year.

On the academic side, two math teachers and two ELA teachers will leave. They have remained anonymous so far. No science or social studies teachers will be cut, but some may have to leave in future years. A dean and a para will also be cut, leaving the rest of the administrative staff with more work and the same pay.

So what does this mean for us? We will have larger classes and more chaos, because there are less teachers and administrative staff. Even though there will be less new students, those of us staying here for 7th and 8th grade will likely have about the same grade size. Until then, you may be able to encourage the school to keep a teacher you really like, but we must accept that as students, we can’t do much about it.