There is a little light reading posted on the Santa Rosa City Schools web site.

The district, to its credit, has posted every single comment tallied so far on their long list of potential budget cuts. Read them here: http://www.srcs.k12.ca.us/news/2009-10BudgetComments.pdf

Between Oct. 23 and today, 235 comments have been logged – that’s 33 pages worth.

I didn’t read them all (one criticism – the layout makes it hard to reconcile the comment with the actual line item on the budget), but the point is, anyone who wants to read them all, can.

It’s interesting stuff.

And kudos to the district for requiring names and emails to go with the comments. That lends credibility to the remarks, in my mind.

Here are a few that stuck out for me:

From a Grace High student: “I want Grace to stay on Piner campus because it will help me and many other students graduate. High School has not been the easiest

thing for us for personal reasons. At Grace, I make up 96 credits instead of 60. This is a great opportunity for students who need to

graduate and are really trying to so they can get a future job.”

From a Maria Carrillo High student: “I am a student at Maria Carrillo High School that is satisfied with the current Library system. I find the staff to be incredibly

welcoming and helpful, not only to myself but to my peers. The staff effectively inculcates new students on how to use the Library,

and I found this to be helpful. The staff alerted me as well to the selection of books they have, and due to their encouragement, check

out books to read regularly. I personally learned how to use PowerPoint from the staff. The library is an important resource to me in

general, for schoolwork and my personal interest, and the staff is integral to this, and any change in the current system would be

detrimental to my educational progress.”