Tonight (2018-09-04) was a meeting of the Honeoye Falls-Lima Board of Education (BoE).
While waiting for the meeting to start, I noticed the seating had been reversed from past years. Previously, the board sat in a U with any presenters in the opening, and the Audience behind those presenters. Now the bottom of the U is towards the audience, and the presenters have their backs to the wall. This does mean everyone in attendance is facing the same information during presentations. Unfortunately, this also means the elected officials have their backs to any members of the public that are there to speak to them.
Today was the first day of classes, and three of the four buildings had staff in the room reporting it was a good day. The fourth (Middle) didn’t have anyone there, as they were busy with a meeting for parents. Although there was some excitement: for a time it was believed one of the students (a second grader?) was lost. Turns out it was a communication failure between the child forgetting about an after school program, so going home, and being picked up by dad. Meanwhile the school was in a panic because they believed the child was lost. By the sounds of it, everything was straightened out in ~10 minutes, which was good. Still, more excitement then they likely wanted, and it sounds like a procedure review is in the future.
The student board representative, Jackson Wicks, was sworn in tonight. Standard Oath of Office (support both constitutions and do duties), which I found interesting. While I don’t know for certain, I would assume a 10th grader, such as Jackson, is still a minor. Can a minor make such a legally binding Oath? And even if he can, how would such an Oath apply to a non-voting ‘member’? Compared to random person off the street, the only difference is Jackson has a bit more flexibility in being able to speak up during meetings. Which isn’t to say I’m against the position, student input in the education system seems like a very good idea. An amusing procedural item that doesn’t seem to really matter, in the big picture.
The biggest discussion item (and the first of two presentations) was on changes being made to the budget process. From the perspective of the average resident, nothing changes. There will still be a vote in May, taxes still get levied, etc. But from the perspective of school staff and those attending these meetings, there look to be considerable changes. Full disclosure here: I have (and expect to again) been a member the Public Budget Advisory Council (PBAC), so these changes will impact me directly.
I’m in favor of giving it a try (not that anyone asked me). While it may go wrong, it also may half the time it takes to build a budget. That alone seems worth looking into. I’m less thrilled about the ‘sharing assumptions’, and ‘aligning goals’ part, as that feels like it may have negative side effects.
By the sounds of it, this will remove a few of the presentations from groups that do not normally present to the Board. I think that is unfortunate, as those departments often use that time to share the great things that have achieved in the past year. While it’s one thing to ‘know’ we have an amazing music program, it’s another to hear Mark and Ken share the details. You should watch the video from previous years (unfortunately the Board does not record these presentations, so no video for you).
There were a few oddities in the planned changes. For one, the order of schools was changed: Manor and Lima swapped. Not important, but previously the schools presented at their buildings, in the order a student would attend them. Made it easy to figure out which was next, as each week we would ‘graduate’ to the next building. Another oddity was a comment about this being part of contract negotiations. No details, just a phrase during the conversation. Probably my general paranoia, but anything that implies unions are influencing budget decisions is worrisome. Might be nothing, or maybe I should take the time to read the fine print in the contract (shame it’s images not text).
For anyone interesting in contributing with the budget process, Bruce (Business and Operations) asked for volunteers to join PBAC. If the idea appeals to you, feel free to read my previous Observations on the topic or email Bruce directly.
The second presentation was on the upcoming capital project. Sounds like construction should be starting November 1, 2018 (ie in two months) and ends (hopefully) by September 1, 2020. While it sounds like much effort is being done to minimize the impact on the students, the High school cafeteria is scheduled to move to the B Gym from June 2019 to April 2020. Not everything can fit into vacations and breaks.
While listening to the conversation I was reminded of the Mendon Library‘s ‘new’ building constructed a few years back. As they (like the school) are a municipality, they were not required to share information with planning or zoning boards. In the interests of open communication, the Town did run their plans by the Village Planning Board. I think it would be polite if the school were to do the same, especially with how often they admit to communication being a weakness. I’ll be keeping my eyes open, but I won’t be holding my breath.
While the next BoE meeting is 9/25 at 7PM, tomorrow (9/5) at 8AM the Board members are touring the campus. As there will be a quorum, it is a public meeting, even if they don’t have any actions to take (Board actions that is, expect much walking action). I won’t be following along, as (much like the Retreat) it doesn’t feel right to intrude. Considering the time I am posting this, odds are you won’t either. At least not from me sharing about it here.
And those are my Observations From Audience Land for the September 4, 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.