Comments on: DeKalb Schools Cut Budget – Including $1.9 Mil from Fernbank – and Raises Taxes

By: lumpintheroad

lumpintheroad — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 01:37:44 +0000

I’m not thrilled about the budget cut, obviously, but I kind of get the feeling that ultimately this will result in FSC getting significantly more money to work with than they were getting from the county. It’s certainly caused people to rally around them. Heck, they could set up a Kickstarter account right now and probably rake in some pretty healthy donations. With three-month-old twin boys who we can’t wait to take to check out FSC’s planetarium, observatory and other delights on a regular basis, I know we’ll be contributing.

By: At Home in Decatur

At Home in Decatur — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 18:07:24 +0000

I think they should get some yellow caution no-entry tape and rope off 1/2 of the exhibits, 1/2 of the classrooms, and 1/2 of the planetarium. You can now observe 1/2 of the Milky Way but not the other.

By: Cubalibre

Cubalibre — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 17:58:11 +0000

Well, cutting half the budget for Fernbank isn’t ideal, but at least it’s not being cut altogether.
#begratefulforsmallfavors

By: DecaturCyn

DecaturCyn — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 17:56:07 +0000

Jill and Rach, that idea makes a lot of sense and reminds me of the Smithsonian’s funding formula. About 3/4 of SI’s funds are federal allocations and the rest are private trust funds generated by commerce (shops, merchandise, branding, tours, workshops, etc) and donations/sponsorships.

By: At Home in Decatur

At Home in Decatur — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 17:36:49 +0000

Yippee for all us whose assessments have gone back to normal! Of course, the appraisal now says the my house is worth pennies compared to the still inflated land cost. I have to admit that my son’s trashed room alone might warrant that low a value! But the overall property value is the same as last year and I’ll take that.