Costly chess program may cost students

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Spring ISD considering cutbacks

We’ve been tracking Spring ISD’s expenses for years, and while they’ve found the money to pay for those pricy trips and even for consultants who charge $4,000 a day, librarians now say the district does not have enough money to pay their salaries.

As Wayne Dolcefino and 13 Undercover reported last October, in one summer, Spring ISD spent nearly $400,000 of your tax dollars on trips for its administrators, trips to luxury resorts like The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida, it also spent $1 million on consultants in just 18 months.

Now, its 35,000 students could pay the price. The district is dealing with a $10.6 million budget shortfall and sources tell Eyewitness News all the elementary librarians have been told they could lose their full-time jobs, and be hired back, only part-time next year. Some parents say that’s not right.

“I wouldn’t like that, them doing it like that. Cause the kids need the library and the teachers and all that stuff here,” said parent Rona Turner.

“I mean I don’t see why the point of it would be,” said parent Joseph Bowen.

This is the same school district that sent 400 teachers on a cruise to learn how to play chess, so the teachers could teach the game to their students. The chess program cost nearly $390,000. Parents say learning to read is a lot more important.

Here is the full article.