Tonight (2018-04-10) was a meeting of the Honeoye Falls-Lima Board of Education (BoE).
The board approved a budget to send to the voters, after a short presentation on the topic. May 15th the residents will decide on whether to go with this proposal or not. Of note, the tax cap is NOT being exceeded, so a simple majority is all that is needed to pass the budget.
Having gone to all the other meetings to get to this point, the budget information was pretty straightforward. I doubt anyone in the room was significantly surprised by any of it. But the related discussion did go in some interesting directions.
In a bit of ‘he said, she said’, the board appears to feel the residents feel that ‘never’ is the appropriate time to exceed the tax cap. True or not, the case was being made tonight that the numbers won’t support that at some point. Exactly when that time will be was not clear, although a number of variables were mentioned that would make it happen much sooner (enrollment increases, poor stock market, etc). Which really has me thinking the underlying model of public education is unsustainable.
The discussion pointed to a number of budget categories that have consistently increased at a higher rate then the income does. For example, this years budget increase was driven by the health insurance increase. So far, the budget has been balanced primarily with cuts elsewhere, most of which have been tied to decreasing enrollment. So what happens when enrollment stabilizes (or increases)? And what does it say that ‘decline’ is needed to maintain the status quo?
Minimizing costs on buses (and their maintenance) through a regular replacement schedule was brought up. This is why, in addition to the general budget, there will be an item on the ballot for five buses. Which had me thinking: If we optimize time of ownership of buses, to minimize total costs, could the same logic be applied to staff? If the years to ‘retirement’ was lower (5? 10? whatever?), would this lead to overall savings? And if so, what would be the impact? Presumable, this would mean less experienced staff (which could be bad), but would it also mean less set in their ways (which could be good)? Might also change the dynamic: Instead of a ‘career’ as a teacher, it becomes a few year project, that more of the community have a part in. Some people serve for a few years right out of college, others after a ‘normal’ career elsewhere. Can’t offer a solution here, but I see potential worth exploring. If only we had a district brave enough to do so.
For those interested, the districts tax report card and legal notice for the budget are available on BoardDocs.
While the budget was the main topic of conversation, a number of other tidbits came up during the meeting.
Student attendance at standardized testing appears to be up. While not explicitly said, this may mean the ‘opt out’ movement is fading.
Tomorrow (Wednesday, April 11) night at 7PM there is an Opioid Epidemic Forum at the District Auditorium (Middle School). While I hear this is open to all, I have heard a large number of people will be attending. Will be interesting to see how crowded the auditorium is.
Next Tuesday (April 17th), at 6PM there will be an event teaching Elementary and Middle School parents what they need to know about ‘vaping’. This will be at the Middle School Cafeteria. Apparently, April is drug awareness month at HFL.
The recent focus on Health in general, drug and mental in particular, has caused the district to compile much of what they are doing on this topic in one location. While I haven’t read through the documentation yet, it is available on their website. Towards the bottom of the left sidebar, if you don’t follow the link here.
And those are my Observations From Audience Land for the April 10, 2018 meeting of the Honeoye Falls-Lima Board of Education.
As has become the norm for this group, Agenda’s and similar information can be found at HFL’s BoardDocs page.