Haldane’s Board of Education business is everyone’s business. Your tax dollars. Your children’s education. Your school. Why should you pay attention to Haldane Board of Education business? Updated for 2009–10: PTA-BOEv1.pdf The best way to really know what is going on at Board of Education meetings is to attend the meetings and workshops in person. For many, attendance at BOE meetings is simply impossible. Instead, some may consult the PCNR for news of the meetings, watch meetings on cable TV, or listen to meeting podcasts.
With the upcoming Capital Project, heating feasibility study, and eventual new budget next spring, the community has much to learn about the Board of Education business this year. Consequently, one of the projects of the PTA is to provide more information about these and other important topics of the Board. The goal of the newly created PTA BOE Committee is to educate and engage the community so that the necessary dialogue takes place before voting day. Every member of this community is affected by and benefits from the decisions of the Board of Education, directly and indirectly. Public dialogue is crucial to assist the Board with its decision-making duties.
The PTA BOE Committee hopes to serve as a kind of clearinghouse, which will collect information from meetings and/or podcasts and provide it to the PTA in a clear and condensed form. The reports, as well as important links and information on education in general as it relates to the Board’s role, will be posted to the PTA website under the BOE Committee site page (at haldanepta.webptn.com ), and they will also be available at our new blog site (at haldanepta.blogspot.com ). In addition, we also plan to offer access to BOE meeting materials, such as agendas and handouts. These same materials will also be available on the Haldane School website, as the Committee hopes to complement the district’s efforts to make information available to all who wish to learn about Haldane School Board business.
On October 2, 2008, the Board of Education held a special meeting and decided to go forward with a revised Capital Project Referendum. If approved by voters, the bond would pay for exterior envelope refurbishment, (i.e., the leaking roof) and it includes asbestos abatement for the tunnel area near the boiler. The more expensive heating project will be decided pending results of the heating feasibility study. The Board has decided to proceed with this limited project because the long overdue roofing repairs and asbestos abatement near the boiler is urgently needed. Voting day for this $2.3 million (estimated) bond will be November 18, 2008.
Useful information about Board business is available at the Haldane School website, (www.haldaneschool.org ) on the podcast, (see the site page for the PTA BOE Committee for instructions) at the PTA website, and the BOE Committee blog. The PTA BOE Committee encourages everyone in our community to consult these resources.
|