I would like to thank everyone for all they have done the past few days.  Several people have diverted a lot of energy to my campaign for reelection.  I immensely appreciate all the efforts and am honored to have the support of so many nice people.  This is truly a wonderful community.  To have people convey such positive thoughts about Holland Patent Central School and its current board is humbling, yet also enhances my pride in the district.  I have certainly tried very hard as a board member to make sure every voice is heard and to provide the best educational experience for our students at the lowest price to the taxpayers.  If reelected, as a community, through my voice, but with the entire community’s interest and concerns in mind, we can continue to make informed well-thought out decisions for all of our children and the taxpayers.  Thank you everyone for assisting in my campaign, putting signs on your lawns, and providing me with encouragement and support. See you all tomorrow!

This weekend....

I spent a lot of time this weekend talking to community members about Holland Patent Central School District and truly enjoyed every minute of it!   Listening to what people have to say and viewing things from different perspectives are extremely helpful ways to stay informed and allow for better decision making.  Thank you to everyone for taking the time out to talk to me and provide me with encouragement.

I spoke with community members about anticipated caps, enrollment, the need to keep taxes low, peoples' concerns about the economy, sports and music programs, academics, the district's concussion management protocol, district expenses, the great job the district's employees (from the bus drivers, custodians, building secretaries, nurses, coaches, support staff, teachers, on up to the administrators) are doing, our plans for the future, consolidation and so much more.  I was able to convey and absorb a lot of information in a short period of time. 

So many people are really positive and feel that Holland Patent is well represented by the current board.  Thank you to everyone that allowed me to put a campaign sign on their lawn.  The amount of support I have received over that past few days evidences that my decision to run for re-election was sound and hopefully is well supported on Tuesday!    

If anyone has questions and/or concerns, please feel free to comment on this blog.  In the event that I am re-elected I would like to continue to utilize this forum to allow residents to express their opinions and convey their thoughts so as to provide me with additional information to make informed decisions.

Hopefully everyone will remember to get out and vote on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at the Holland Patent High School.  Also, hopefully the rain holds off, as the elementary students are looking forward to the annual track meet scheduled for that day.  In the event of rain, please don't be deterred by the weather.

Despite what the Observer Dispatch says - every vote does count!

VOTE

Please remember to vote on May 17, 2011 at the Holland Patent High School from 7am to 8 pm.  I need your vote to be able to continue to represent the community and maintain what we have worked so hard to achieve, like increasing our graduation rate, making our schools safer, decreasing expenses while maintaining programs, and so much more.

If you want change.....

On my way to school this morning, I saw a sign regarding the Holland Patent School Board that said "If you want change...."  My response is "be careful what you ask for!"  The current board has managed to carefully trim our budget in the upcoming year by over $700,000 without cutting any programs or laying off any employees, thereby causing minimal, if any, impact to our students! 

We are already doing a study with NYSERDA in attempt to save money by becoming more energy efficient.  The District is already looking into and has even applied for additional grant monies for 2012-13 and is constantly looking at ways to cut expenses without impacting the students. 

The current board continues to look at consolidation of jobs, transportation and services.  We are working with union leadership for other ways to save money as the aid projections for 2012-13 are dismal.  

The board looks at the responsibilities of each employ and while at first glance a position might appear unnecessary, after being informed as to each position and its responsibilities, benefits to the district (whether financially, structurally, and/or educationally or for mandate compliance), I am confident that some people would be surprised to know the district is not overstaffed but as enrollment changes so does the district's employment structure.  

The current board acts in a responsible well thought out manner in planning on how to continue to provide ALL of our students with the best educational opportunities available at the lowest cost!

Click on this twice for a better view!

At the district's budget hearing last week I expressed my thoughts, here is what I had to say...

It was five years ago that I was sitting in this auditorium listening to the budget hearing and wondering how it was that the beams in the building of our schools were corroded to the point where we, as a district, needed emergency expenditures to take corrective action. Around that same time, people were complaining that our middle school didn’t need tiles from Italy and everything did not need to be purple and gold.  I too was confused as to these things ....hence I ran for the school board so that I could find out how it all worked and bring the answers back to the community.

After being elected to the school board, I quickly learned that the school officials became aware of the corroding beams in connection with performing other needed improvements and newly instituted building inspections, the reason we purchased Italian flooring was because it was the most inexpensive superbly durable tile thereby minimizing the impact and maximizing the benefit to tax payers, and just like my kids and many other students in this district, there are a lot of students and community members that love to wear purple and gold and do so with pride. We now have, well to put bluntly, some facilities to be proud of instead of buildings with corroded beams, flooded cellars, and other unsightly and unsafe conditions.  Unlike five years ago, Holland Patent is no longer deemed by state officials to be a school in need of improvement, academically or structurally.

Two years ago I was honored to be nominated to be the President of the Board of Education. At that point in time I made my personal goals to


one.... make sure every board member’s opinion was heard, respected and considered,
two....to make sure all visitors were given ample opportunity to address the board and make sure they were aware I appreciated their efforts in trying to make the board aware of their concerns,
three.....to bring each and every concern I heard from community members and district employees to the district’s attention in attempt to address the same,
and four......to assist in bringing the administration, the community and the employees of the district together. As, by then, I knew that our superintendent, our principals, our teachers, our bus drivers, our custodians, our coaches, our building secretaries and every other district employee all really do have the common goal of providing our 1,700 students with the best possible education at the lowest price to the tax payers.
In attempting to achieve my goals, it was obvious to me that I needed to exploit the fact that our superintendent rightly not only focuses on, but dedicates herself to, looking out for the best interest of our students, while also ensuring that the tax payers are getting the most out of their tax payments.
I also needed to express to administrators that our employees want to be able to teach and do their jobs while having the ability to speak against the grain without fear of retribution and that they want the ability to not only be invited to impart their thoughts and concerns as to how we can make Holland Patent the best learning environment it can be, but also have those ideas put into action, all this while being cognizant that tax payers simply cannot afford and do not want higher taxes.
This district, now ....


meticulously monitors building conditions and needed improvements while continuing to be aware of tax payers’ limitations, This district, now.....


now holds board meetings that are visitor friendly and often contain informative and insightful discussions amongst board members and administration. I personally routinely reach out to visitors of board meetings to make sure visitors’ concerns are being addressed or just to communicate further with community members that have expressed a concern and see if they have any thoughts as to how we can improve this district.  It was recently published that there was a feeling that this board brushed aside a community member’s concerns, I surely hope that is not a consensus, as this board, as it sits here tonight, is certainly sensitive to the thoughts and concerns of the community it represents.
It is now five years later, and for the most part I now know how it works.  I know the budget process consists of more than six months of school board meeting discussions, waiting for governor runs as to anticipated aid, enrollment projections, retirements, employee benefits, ever changing and newly created mandates, grant funding restrictions, BOCES intricacies and implications, rules and regulations of funding, tax implications, and so much more.  I know, despite my efforts to the contrary, I simply cannot make all 275 plus employees and all community members of this district happy, although I would really like too!  I now know about teachers’ contract negotiations and the new, whether we like or not, federal Race To The Top guidelines, including merit based pay.  I know that as circumstances change so does the employment structure of this school district, whether administratively or otherwise.  This board has already looked at and continues to look at the administrative structure and has already made changes within our school district in the upcoming school year which will save tax payers money, and due to changes in the educational environment, financial constraints and other determining factors, further restructuring is likely to take place, and is already being considered.
I also know that not long ago our school system housed a school in need of improvement and our special needs students were not obtaining anywhere near the best services we could provide them nor were we maximizing the aid available for such services.  The district has worked hard to over come these deficiencies, and while there is always room for improvement, I feel the district is in a good place especially as I read about other districts that are cutting 10, 20, 40 plus positions, cutting programs and imposing double digit tax increases while we are cutting no programs, proposing not lay offs or pay freezes, even though our superintendent has offered to freeze her pay, all while keeping the tax levy somewhat low, and despite the fact that the Holland Patent Central School District is faced with the highest cut in state aid in the tri county area.
A community member recently asked the board of education,


if we eliminated our positions of dean of students at the middle school and dean of students at the high school, our director of special education, our director of physical education, and our director of curriculum and instruction, on Monday would our children still be able to be educated at the same high quality?My answer to that question might surprisingly be yes.......BUT as I stand here today..... it is not next Monday that I am thinking about..... it is the distant future, the Mondays, six months or a year from now I am concerned with.  As fiscal times get tougher and tougher, I believe that we should not use a chain saw and rip apart what we have here at Holland Patent.  Instead....., we should make cuts as they become necessary or as positions are vacated so as to minimize the impact to our students and our employees while maximizing the benefit to the tax payers.
Our most experienced administrator has been with the district only 9 years, we have a young administrative team, which as a team, with the assistance of staff, has advanced this district out of a school in need of improvement, has improved our graduation rate, together with our curriculum, our buildings, grounds and facilities, and our financial condition, they have improved our safety and security, added universal pre k, after school and summer programs and so much more.
In response to many people’s request for the same, I would like to continue my efforts in making progress for our students.
Thank you