Ballroom Dancing Kids, Smart Meter Debate, and A Community College Budget Crunch

At Mount Helix Patch, we know that in your busy lives there may be some stories that you can't read about the day they happen. With the "Week That Was" column, we'll provide a roundup of the most important stories of the week.

Food, fun, and family were on display at Bancroft Elementary's annual Spring Carnival last week. The event helped raise money for the school, which will be spent on key student services.

With a drastic reduction in funding from the state of California, many community colleges will be taking a huge budgetary hit, including local schools Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges. It was announced this week that dozens of courses will be cut from the 2011-12 schedule, and thousands of students could be denied admission.

We took a walk through a lovely Mt. Helix garden in this week's ViewFinder, with lots of great photos of plants and flowers.

Helix Water District decided last week to end the pilot program that would put "smart meters" in Mount Helix, because the program was too expensive. Some local activists spoke out at the Wednesday meeting that the smart meters cause health problems as well.

In by far the cutest story of the week, we learned that four elementary schools have instituted a great new way for its students to stay active, get exercise and learn about a new part of social culture: ballroom dance classes!

With proms and graduations approaching, its important that high school students hear the message about celebrating safely. A panel of students, principals and educators last week discussed the issue at a community forum.