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