The evening of 2022-04-26 was a meeting of the Honeoye Falls-Lima Board of Education (BoE).
As Gene (Superintendent) pointed out, school vote for the Budget and Board of Education members will be May 17, in the BOE room at the High School.
There were a trio who commented during that portion of the meeting. Two on the same topic, which was general support of the Board (and District). Reading between the lines, this seemed to be the opposite of those against indoctrination/grooming/what not. Which is interesting as I don’t recall this issue being mentioned locally. Elsewhere yes, but not yet at HFL. While proclaiming HFL’s greatness does not mean guilt, the saying ‘doth protest too much‘ exists for a reason.
The third commenter was pro-“The Science”, with some interesting allusions. Overall felt a bit forceful with the ‘trust me, the expert‘ approach. Regardless, it is good to hear differing ideas. How else would be find the ‘correct’ one, if not by exploring options?
Time for another update on the Capitol Project. It seems to be wrapping up, even as the next one is being planned. As usual, pictures are available for those interested.
The big item of discussion was the workshop on ‘College/Career Readiness and Personal Finance‘. Early on the idea of teaching students how to learn came up. Which I find interesting, as if it is done properly, it could remove the need for ‘teachers’. At least at the high grade levels, where this skill should be well practiced.
I found the focus on a ‘Resume‘ interesting. While I have never hired anyone, and can only speak from anecdotal experiences, it’s also been a good number of years since I can recall a need for resumes. Online job applications, which need much of the information contained in a resume? Yes. But the resume itself? Not so much. In contrast with how ‘check writing’ was discussed. A skill that was taught, even as it’s lessening value was acknowledged. The focus there seemed more on online banking, to such an extent that a simulator of sorts is used.
It was mentioned that some adult education classes would be closing. Was unclear to me if this was at EMCC or MCC, and if it was just HVAC or other trade skills as well. In any case, the reason was not enough students. Which could cause issues down the road. As things fail, does no one know how to repair them? That should increase demand, thus more people look for that skillset. So this is temporary, as markets adjust? Or are we looking at a fundamental market failure? As I’ve been hearing about the drop in qualified people in certain professions for a while, this doesn’t seem temporary. Which leaves the question of why. I would speculate the root cause is government meddling with the markets, but I freely admit I can be wrong. I am showing my ‘government = bad’ bias, but that alone doesn’t make me wrong.
There was a video presentation on the benefits of TransfrVR. Reminded me of couple other takes on the idea of virtual work environments. I can’t speak to the merit, but the idea of ‘gamifying‘ education is not a new one. Perhaps this has value, or it may be an excuse to buy the new shiny. Time will tell.
While not a ‘normal’ meeting, next week should be the Public Hearing for the Budget along with meeting the candidates. Most likely in the High School Cafeteria at 7PM on May 3.
And those are my Observations From Audience Land for the April 26, 2022 meeting of the Honeoye Falls-Lima Board of Education.
Agenda’s and similar information can be found at HFL’s BoardDocs page. While a recording is also available.