Tonight's BOE Meeting

There is a BOE meeting tonight at the district office at 7:00.

Last week the reconfiguration group voted to remove the district office and the high school from consideration of potential buildings to close.

There are three significant concerns with this rapid approach that potentially can be presented at the meeting tonight if you are so moved:

1. Until we have a full assessment of the number of students, the number of teaching classrooms and the maximum size for each class that we find acceptable, we have no way of knowing whether we can close an entire building. 


WHY THIS IS A CONCERN: This is a backwards approach that is forcing us into a corner. It is unclear why the true number of classrooms needed is not the first item for consideration.

2. The decision to exclude the district office was based on a cost/savings comparison where we were told that the cost would be too high and the savings too low.

WHY THIS IS A CONCERN: a) As with last year the specifics about these costs and savings were neither provided to the public or necessarily verified. Are they accurate? b) This cost/savings was done in a vacuum - in other words this comparison was not placed against the real cost/savings of every other building to determine that it a least reasonable option. c) While we can't know who might buy or rent a building shouldn't potential saleability/potential rentablity be included as a consideration?

3. The decision to exclude the high school was based on a qualitative understanding that given the extensive and expensive renovations recently done and the individuality of many classroom, it would simply be unacceptable and unfeasible to close this building.

WHY THIS IS A CONCERN: Personally, I think applying this consideration that is less based on a specific cost/savings analysis but more based on the broader impact and the uniqueness of the building is important. However, this same criteria should be applied for every other building as well and if a cost/saving is applied to other buildings it should be applied to the high school.

In other words there needs to be a consistent standardized way to look at each building. It appears that the committee is selecting data to support predetermined decisions rather than using data to guide decisions.

This is not o.k. and you should feel free to let them know.

Next Reconfiguration Meeting

The BOE voted in favor of reducing the capacity utilized by our district from six building to five. The next decision being made QUICKLY is which building should be eliminated.

The BOE will make this decision primarily on fit and costs.

Your job is to reinforce that this decision is about more than fit.


What are the implications if:

1. A neighborhood school closed? How does this impact the neighborhood, the kids, the teachers?
2. The kindergartens were moved out of each building?
3. The 5th graders moved to the elementary buildings?
4. The 8th graders moved to the High School?

We need to hear your wisdom on this now as these decisions will be made with or without you.

Next budget meeting is Tuesday 10/18 at 4:00
Next reconfiguration meeting is Tuesday 10/18 at 5:30

Both back to back in the district office.