Saturday, August 2, 2008

School Board to Review Levy Options

There will be a special meeting of the Board of Education of Hilliard City Schools at 7pm on Monday, August 4, at the Central Office Annex.

No agenda has been published, but it is my understanding that the Board will be presented with various scenarios of levy amounts and budget cuts. As required by the Ohio Sunshine Laws, all their discussions on this matter must be held in public session, and one would think they have much to discuss.

I encourage community members to take the time to attend and observe the presentations and discussion first hand.

The deadline to file the levy paperwork with the Board of Elections is August 21. The Board is scheduled to approve the final resolutions at the following Board meeting, currently scheduled for Monday, August 11 at 7pm, also at the Central Office Annex.

Hope to see you there.

7 comments:

  1. I hope the community packs the house! It might help if the word gets out to our local radio stations (especially WTVN 610 AM to Bob Conners) about the importance of this meeting and other upcoming meetings regarding our schools. Voters of Hilliard, be a voice. Your presense will speak volumes.

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  2. Agreed^^^. Pro-levy, no-levy and everywhere in-between... This is an opportunity to be a voice.

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  3. Once again, I'm out of town.

    I am coming to the 11th meeting for sure!

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  4. On the 'be a voice' part - a couple of things to know:

    1) School Board meetings are meetings of a government body which by law must be held in view of the public, but there is no legal requirement that any time during the meeting be reserved for public comments (just as you can't walk onto the floor of the Ohio Senate and demand to be heard). While it is customary for our School Board to allow public comments during one designated part of the meeting, there is no guarantee that the Board will schedule public participation time during this meeting;

    2) If the Board does allow public participation during this special meeting, their policy is to require a speaker slip to be filled out prior to the meeting (slips are available there) and given to Treasurer Brian Wilson. When recognized, speakers are granted 3 minutes to make their remarks, after which the Board members may or may not respond to the speaker.

    See you there.

    PL

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  5. My concerns will not be those visitors in attendance, it will be what we hear or don't hear from those conducting this meeting. We just hope they cover the TRUE problems and leave off the sugar coating. If it comes to cuts they need to be more spread out. The score as it sounds now is a bit uneven. If the proposed draft cuts are made public, they will see that the little guy suffers. That list will really start the conversations. Maybe the Board will hold a "town meeting" to field the questions of the Hilliard voters? Should be an interesting next couple of weeks folks !

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  6. Anon at 8:42 PM...
    IMHO, the nearly $11 million in cuts that were line-itemed tonight are deep and across-the-board, not just concentrated in one or two areas.

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  7. Across the board NOT including staff salaries of those who escape the cuts? If I were a junior employee of the district I think I might be feeling a bit betrayed by the union. Unless I believed their line that it is all about the kids, and it is OUR fault that they are not being renewed.

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