Tonight (2020-02-25) was a meeting of the Honeoye Falls-Lima Board of Education (BoE), and before that the Program Budget Advisory Council (PBAC).
Full disclosure: I sit on the PBAC, so some of these Observations aren’t exactly from the Audience.
First presentation was David (High School Principal). Although, he did hand the mic off to others. Including, at times, students. As the entire organization exists for the kids, it’s always nice when they can speak for themselves. A few of them spoke on the shadowing/internship program, and a few spoke on the science/STEM program.
The largest portion of the presentation was on chronic absenteeism, and the related (or not?) topic of mental health. The effort to decrease absenteeism continues, which seems worthwhile enough. A slide showing data from staff’s thoughts as to why students are absent was shared. They thought the biggest reason was ‘Mental Health’, tied for last was ‘Health Issues’. Reversely, the students reported the biggest reason of ‘Physical Illness’, while ‘Mental Health’ came in 7th. So students and staff have opposite opinions on what the students are thinking/feeling?
Or maybe not, because I believe I heard that the students meant ‘Mental’ when they said ‘Physical’. In which case, why show the slide at all, if it’s data is invalid? Does add to the idea that maybe this whole ‘Mental Health Crisis’ is more about supporting an industry then because there is an actual problem. Although, in all fairness, as with all too many things, I have no solid data on my side. Just suspicions.
In any case, a multi-level plan is being implemented to reduce absentees. One of those steps involves a ‘home visit’. As the school is a governmental entity, this sounds rather close to a search, and I would think the 4th amendment comes into play (if not other legal concerns). When asked, I was told it’s fine because it is ‘voluntary’. Fair enough, but do the parents know it’s voluntary? And even if they are told such, is it really? After all, as the government (by way of the school) is involved, ‘anything you say can and will be used against you‘.
Intermixed with that were a few interesting tidbits.
91% of last years graduates went on to college. 96% of the year before did.
Apparently the cost of graduation is going up. Might be time to look at bringing it back in district, instead of outsourcing. As a bonus, if done on the front yard, it would create an opportunity to admire the recently restored portion of the building.
AP Physics is being changed. While I’ll admit I don’t understand all the details and nuance, it sounds like instead of taking a test with ~40% pass rate, they are switching to one with ~80%.
Make of those what you will.
On the plus side, looks like Naviance is being used to answer questions about what students do after high school. For a number of years it has been asked, in various ways by various people, what percentage of the students graduate college. Worthwhile, as most of them go on to college. Likewise, what percentage then get jobs in their fields. While no data was presented, we were told they now have that data. I was glad to hear that and look forward to seeing that presentation.
Second presentation was Brian (Athletics), and his crew. Like the High School, he had a collection of students joining in the presentation. One was sharing the Eagle Scout project he did, about implementing a mobile first aid station for away sporting events. A situation that was good all around. Even that he was injured a while back, as that provided motivation for helping others.
For a number of years hockey has been an odd sport in the district. It exists, but has been funded (in part) by the Sports Boosters. Part of this budget plan will finally move that sport to being funded completely by the district. On the one hand, creative use of the departments finances. On the other, we can’t do everything. Maybe hockey is something we shouldn’t do?
As an aside, I learned that hockey (at least here) is a coed sport. Which struck me as odd, as the few hockey games I have watched have been rather physical. The crowds seemed as interested in the violence as the game itself. Not the sort of thing I would expect (or want) a mixing of boys and girls to be involved in. Mind you, none of those were at the high school level. Maybe it’s different here?
The presentation also included participation rates for the various sports seasons. Good to see, but great to have the history for comparison. Which shows, that while there have been some ups and downs, overall it’s pretty consistent.
Tangentially related, but the new turf field by the Middle school is usable. While the capitol project continues across the campus, it’s good to know parts of it have finished.
Which brought us to the end of the budget presentations. As usual, the BoE and PBAC split for their separate discussions. When that was finished, and I returned to the audience, the BoE was discussing how to fill the vacancy among their members. And it was a most amusing discussion.
To their credit, they discarded the crazy option of holding a special election. But there was a surprising amount of discussion about whether or not to leave the seat vacant (for the three months until the election) or to appoint someone (by some method). In the end, they decided to request those interested apply. So there will likely be something in next weeks Sentinel (not to mention emails, school’s website, etc). I believe I heard March 6 as a ‘respond by’ day, with potential interviews being on March 10. But don’t trust me on those dates, verify for yourself if you are interested.
While I personally think the ‘best’ option would have been to leave the seat vacant, as the public will be deciding in a few months anyways, the Board has a plan they are running with. And as the saying goes, perfect is the enemy of good enough.
As a personal aside (and in the interests of full disclosure), last time they had a vacancy they also opted to fill it. They requested applicants and then interviewed them. And I was one of those applicants. So I find it entertaining watching this process, regardless of the outcome. It may have been 6 years ago (or whenever, memory can be fickle that way), but the discussion is essentially the same. Points both for and against haven’t really changed (at least as I recall). Almost seems like they should adopt a policy.
First review of next years calendar was tonight. A bit early, but that’s because no one will like it. First day of school will be September 2, Labor day is September 7. Next worst (because they are all bad) alternative has school on November 25 (day before Thanksgiving) and December 23. One of those situations where no one will be happy, but hopefully we can all manage to live with it. Or be absent for a few days, if your mental health so requires.
And those are my Observations From Audience Land for the February 25, 2020 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.