Williston Public School District 1 held a special meeting Wednesday primarily to discuss future funding. The district is already strapped for cash, and facing a possible gain of 800-1,200 new students next school year, the school board is trying to find sources of funding, according to Superintendent Viola LaFontaine.It's frustrating. It seems reporters don't understand important of denominators as well as numerators.
All we know from this story is that District 1 will add 800 to 1,000 new students next year. If the number of Williston students was 10,000, it would be noteworthy, but not concerning. But we have no idea what the denominator is, unless I missed it.
I do recall that District 8 with three elementary schools with a total of about 200 students might see an additional 600 new students next year. Here's the link for that story (thanks to a reader, see below). The numbers are correct; I just can't remember if the "600" represents "new students" or if that will be the total. I think it was new students.
