Tonight (2020-05-12) was a meeting of the Honeoye Falls-Lima Board of Education (BoE).
Big topic of the evening was the election. It will be absentee/mail in only, and ends June 9th.
Full disclosure: Yes, that is my name on the list of candidates I stole from Gene (Superintendent).
To summarize the election details discussed:
1 ballot will be mailed to each known resident/voter.
More can be requested from HFL20.21Elections@hflcsd.org
Can return by mail, but a box should be available on campus at some point.
Budget Hearing will be on May 26, and through Zoom.
Unsurprisingly, there was also speculation as well. In a ‘normal’ school vote, the turn out is ~1000. From other sources, ~80% of absentee ballots get filled out and returned. Which would mean ~12000 votes this year. Needless to say, counting those will be a challenge. It does sound like they are already lining up people to assist. While few names were mentioned, the impression I got was they were looking at staff for that assistance. Not to question the character of anyone (especially as I don’t know who these someones would be), but that looks like a conflict of interests to me. Yes votes means you get paid, no votes mean you don’t (or may not, as details play out). Or I could be worrying about nothing, and perhaps they recruit a pile of ‘neutral’ election inspectors.
Apparently Gene has a popular newsletter. Gets read by a large number of people each week. Unfortunately, it appears to go out as an email and thus is not accessible to the public at large. At least I couldn’t find it linked anywhere.
Had I not been on Gene’s twitter looking for said newsletters, I wouldn’t have noticed the candidates are listed alphabetically. I found this amusing as it puts the incumbents at the bottom. And I’m pretty sure they are in order with most time on the Board at the bottom, and decreasing as they go up.
Graduation appears to be a complete unknown, apart from it not currently being allowed (as it is too large of a gathering). Personally, I think the district should hold it anyways. On whatever day would be convenient (calendar says June 28, but no reason that couldn’t be changed), gather on the sports fields. Plenty of place to spread out, for those that feel the need to do so. Stream the event, for those that don’t feel safe attending. Won’t be perfect, but nothing ever is. Would be better then nothing. And who knows, standing up to the states absurdity might teach the kids something in the process.
And on the topic of absurdity, the last page of Gene’s presentation included one. The quality isn’t the best, so you might want to look at the CDC’s version. Despite page 1 saying ‘archived for historical purposes’, page 2 looks to match. If this is used, I’m thinking the school spends most of the winter closed. So either we use the summer to plan for closing during the winter. Or we plan to ignore those telling us to close for the flu. Either way, have to make a choice and be ready to stick to it.
Another month, another report on the ongoing capitol project. Apart from pointing at the pictures isn’t that much to say. Inside of the High School is nearing completion, even as the outside (parking lot) is unusable. Works out with the building being closed. While details are different, the other buildings look similar (good progress being made, but not done yet).
Was also a presentation for an Energy Performance Capital Project. Basic idea is to replace/upgrade various equipment such that the costs savings pay for the project costs. Projects cost is ~$2.4 million, but there should be no direct cost to the tax payer. Savings are even supposed to be guaranteed. Overall, the project does seem worthwhile, although some of the details are questionable.
We seem to be saturated in Capital Project’s, even if they all seem worthwhile. At which point is enough enough?
This project will include HALO sensors (smells drugs). In the past, I recall the district opting not to bring it police to search for drugs. Isn’t this effectively the opposite stance? Regardless, does the 4th amendment come into play at some point here, as everyone in the building would be searched without a warrant?
Another staffing groups salary increase was approved, with no discussion. ~3% increase for this group, which seems like the trend for most of the other staff as well. In light of the current unemployment rate, how can this be justified? Once upon a time, as I heard the story, public employees (ie school staff) were paid less then the private sector, but made up for it in benefits (pension, healthcare, etc). Now? Steady raises and still have those benefits. Again, in light of the current panic, are we building a class system, divided on the line of who works for the government and who works to support the government?
On a more pleasant note, open source textbooks are finally here. Was only the ‘first read’ tonight, but I expect they will be approved next meeting. While I think this should have already happened, better late then never. Saves money, and gives the staff more flexibility.
And it is interesting to see who gets up during the meetings, and who sits the whole time. Is one of the pluses of this method, even if I would rather meet on campus. It’s easy to get up and stretch your legs without disrupting anything. Some people definitely take advantage of that, others don’t seem to.
And those are my Observations From Audience Land for the May 12, 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.