Tonight (2020-09-08) was a meeting of the Honeoye Falls-Lima Board of Education (BoE).
As hordes of kids returned to the school buildings today, it was fitting the BoE met in person as well. They were in the refurbished cafeteria, which looks to have turned out pretty well. I’m sure I’ll always like the older one better, if only for sentimental reasons.
The meeting started off with Carol (Board President) complimenting the staff for overcoming all the challenges needed to reopen the school today. Which, appropriately enough, led to applause all around.
As today was (re)opening day, there was much discussion about how that went. While there were a few hiccups, as there always are, all in all it sounds like it went pretty well. Reportedly, the staff was thrilled to have the students back on campus. And by the sounds of it, many of the kids were glad to be there.
The capitol project is going well, and sounds like it is nearing it’s completion. There were no pictures in the report, which was a shame. But we were in the renovated part of the building, which more then made up for that.
Also of a financial nature, Bruce (Business office) said the budget was ok, despite all the unusual issues. Will have to plan carefully for the future, but we should make it through the year (at least from a financial standpoint). And the State is ‘deferring’ ~20% of it’s state aid already. Ideally, this deferral is only for a short term. But the comment was made that last time there was a similar ‘deferral’, it ended up being permanent. On the one hand, the State going back on their payments is bad. On the other, building a budget that requires State aid isn’t the wisest. Especially as there is a ‘last time’ to compare with. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice…
As the previous Community Education director had left, there was a new one, Kim Roberts I believe. I think this was the first time I have seen her in this role. Probably saw her on Zoom over the summer without realizing her position. Either way, tonight was the annual review. Bottom line, the Community Education program is profitable, overall. But the wellness center and pool operate at a lose. I was surprised that Summer Rec had the numbers it did, until I noticed it was for 2019 (ie last year). As expected, no Summer Rec for 2020.
Fitting in with the background that is the medical paranoia, Gene (Superintendent) described a new state mandate about a tracking portal. Sounds like the school is required to list numbers around staff/students on campus, and testing results. But as the district does no testing itself, they have no results to report. Thus understandable frustration about yet another mandate which, from the viewpoint of those following it, has no value whatsoever.
Similarly, there was discussion around the covid symptom flow chart (page 80). Long story short, the opinion seemed to be that the rules as offered are impractical. Hopefully better guidance will be provided. The alternatives are ignoring the existing guide, or closing as life’s little hiccups inevitably happen.
Gene made an interesting… prediction isn’t quiet the right word, but I’ll go with that. HFL won’t be closing because of too many students being sick, it would be because of a staffing shortage. Tying into the above, if any symptom mandates two weeks out, it doesn’t take too many people before snowballing to the point there aren’t enough left to run things.
On a personal level, if I was to follow the chart, I literally would never leave quarantine. Which isn’t to say I’m sick, my ‘symptoms’ can almost always be traced to other causes. Air conditioner causes sore throats, allergies cause nasal issues, etc. But sometimes you just don’t feel as well as others, that’s life.
I am glad this group is back together for meetings, much like with the Town and Village Boards. Zoom is a great tool for what it does, but there is something about being in the same physical space together. There is nuance that is lost in an online setting. The little details around the edges. Both nothing that matters, and everything of significance. Just people being people.
And those are my Observations From Audience Land for the September 08, 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. While a recording of the meeting will likely be available soon.