With the weak economy, and the resulting budget cuts, everyone is feeling the pinch. METCO (The Metropolitan Council for Education Opportunity) is no exception. This year METCO lost over 40 thousand dollars in budget cuts.

As a result, two late bus days at the high school and middle school have been cut. This means that a METCO student can not stay after school for sports, theater, dance, or meeting with a teacher, or anything else. More cuts are expected.

Saturday, May 16th, many are taking the opportunity to do something about it. The Florence Adler Walk/Run is a fun way to raise money for METCO, as well as to honor the memory of Florence Adler, an advocate for Wayland’s METCO program. Registration starts at 9:00, and the actual race starts at 11:00 at the middle school. At 10:45, there will be a Florence Adler memorial service.

Senior Evan Gennis said, “I am excited to be participating in this event, it is really fun, and a great way to fundraise for a great cause.”

This year, the race will not just be winners from Wayland. Competing towns include Weston, Lincoln-Sudbury, Cohasset, and Reading. A Florence Adler METCO cup will be given as a prize to the winning town.

METCO’s goal is to raise 100,000 dollars.

Jennifer Adler said, “I believe it’s really important to help this cause because it’s fellow students and friends who are being drastically affected by the big budget cuts.”

METCO was founded in 1966 as a voluntary integration program that provides thousands of Boston residents with the opportunity for a suburban public school education. The program provides a broad academic and social experience for both the suburban and urban students. Wayland joined in 1968 and has 130 METCO students. At present, METCO is benefiting over 3,300 children, in over 38 communities.