Tonight (2020-03-24) was a meeting of the Honeoye Falls-Lima Board of Education (BoE).
This was also the meeting where the Program Budget Advisory Council (PBAC) makes their recommendation to the BoE. As I sit on the PBAC, I was with the group presenting (such as it was). While you are welcome to read the full recommendation or watch the video, I would summarize it as ‘continue the course while planning for the future’.
Before the PBAC report, the vacant BoE seat was filled by Chris Neff. Chris had been on the PBAC, which I think makes sense for filling the remainder of this term. Less of a hurdle getting up to speed with things.
After that was Gene’s (Superintendent) report, which focused on the panic. All in all, as was pointed out by the Board, the staff are doing a good job with all the craziness and general disruption that is going on. I found the district branching out to food delivery service interesting. Good to make sure kids are getting fed, and thus one less thing their parents have to worry about. And good reuse of resources (staff, buses, etc). Although, as with so many aspects of this panic, I wonder what it means long term.
Another point, the continued paying of staff, even if they aren’t necessarily working. A nice and generous thing to do, and it will make those staff’s life’s much easier. But will taxes be lowered to pass the same sort of relief on? I suspect not. Would seem a better (dare I even say fairer?) approach would be partial pay, with partial tax rebate. Short term, it doesn’t really matter. But the longer this panic goes on, the more important such balance may become.
As for that, school will be closed until at least April 1. Considering the date, I expect a joke then. Do we find out the whole panic was a farce? That the closings will continue for the rest of the year? Some other amusement?
Putting aside the content of the meeting, the format was different. While there have been a few special meetings, this was the first regularly scheduled meeting streamed online.
Regardless of anything else, I think the recording of the meetings is a good thing. Even if I would rather be in the room. There is nuance that is lost through the video, not to mention inconsistent audio quality. When in a shared space it is easier to have side conversations before/after the meeting proper. That being said, this format does have benefits of it’s own, not the least of which is the flexibility it has offered in this time of panic.
Despite the format change, it really was a meeting as usual. Policy discussion, Treasurer’s report, boosters updates, etc. Good job Board and staff for using the technology to overcome challenges, which is the purpose of technology. Still, I look forward to meeting in person again.
And those are my Observations From Audience Land for the March 24, 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.