We take a look at the stories that are coming to the web and in
the paper. This week: Layoffs continue and New elementary
school.
1. Layoffs continue
The city council will consider laying off two firefighters and two police department employees Monday night, which would bring the total number of pink slips at City Hall to 48. None of the additional cuts at the police department include sworn officers, but they do include a multi-service officer who frees up beat cops’ time. For this reason, council members have been quick to defend the position in the past. The other proposed cuts – which total $500,000 this year and $1 million next year – come from turning the Sunrise Fire Station into a medical-only response center and laying off two relief firefighters. Other reductions include canceling $40,000 budgeted for the Visitor’s Bureau and $24,000 targeted for the Economic Development Corporation.
2. New elementary school
This town might be home to a brand new elementary school, not to mention the first phase of a $180 million high school, come fall.
Since 2005, the district has grown by 368 elementary school-aged children, and some schools – like Rod Kelley and Las Animas, where teachers are holding classes in libraries and computer labs for lack of classroom space – are bursting at the seams.
