IN Brentwood-Baldwin-Whitehall Fall 2017 | Page 61

The Brentwood Borough School District approved the
2017-2018 General Fund Budget of $23,196,475. This
reflects a millage rate of 29.5332. Assessed values for
the Borough dropped by approximately three million
over the past year. This is reflected as a decrease in real
estate revenue expected for the 2017-2018 fiscal year.
The Board elected to not raise the tax millage rate this
year since it has done so for the past three years.
The 2017-2018 District Budget reflects an unbalanced
budget. The revenue budget totals $21,820,262,
leaving a shortfall of $1,376,213. Primarily the main
source of money at Brentwood Borough School District
comes from real estate taxes and state funding. The
money raised from local taxes remain in our schools to
educate the children who live here. Local revenues total
$12,410,553 or 56.8% of the budget. State revenue
total $9,041,718 or 41.4% of the total budget. The
2017-2018 General Fund Budget reflects increases to
state funding in basic education and special education.
The Elroy Buddy Bench
Mrs. Barbara Pagan
Recess is designed to provide opportunities for play,
exercise and social contact. Most elementary age children also
find that recess provides opportunities for peer conflict and
social struggles. Perhaps it’s because their friends just happen
to be absent from school on a particular day or because they
haven’t yet developed the social skills to successfully navigate
the playground. Unfortunately, in today’s busy society, many
children don’t get the opportunities to independently hone
spontaneous play and conflict management skills, and these
children rely on adults to provide problem solving.
Barbara Pagan
The first American Buddy Bench was placed after a boy
named Christian saw a special bench on a German school
playground. Children sat on the bench to ind icate that they
wanted someone to play with and classmates, seeing their
peers on the bench, would invite them to play. Upon learning
more about that bench, Christian realized that it would be a
great solution to help friends in his own school who felt lonely
or had trouble finding playmates at recess. He told his teacher
and principal about his idea and Roundtown Elementary in
Pennsylvania became the first state to offer a Buddy Bench in
the fall of 2013.
Since the Roundtown Buddy Bench was unveiled, schools
across the country started their own Buddy Bench projects and
successfully included Buddy Benches on their playgrounds.
We try to give our children the tools they need to have
successful friendships and to grow into compassionate adults –
and the Buddy Bench is one more tool we can add to their kit;
a visual reminder that sometimes we all just need a buddy.
All materials were donated by the Elroy PTA and our High
School students have designed the Buddy Bench for our new
playground at Elroy. Teachers will role play with the students
on the purpose of the Buddy Bench during the fall semester.
The bench will help our students to develop compassion,
empathy, and an understanding of how other children feel and
create a desire to help them.
Brentwood-Baldwin-Whitehall | Fall 2017 | icmags.com 59
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