Monday, April 5, 2010

Hearing the Public

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Public hearings are notoriously frustrating experiences. They go on forever as each person speaks one at a time. Board members sit stone faced, unable to respond. Speakers repeat themselves ad nauseum because they can't know if we "get it." We cannot ask a follow-up question, express support for their point of view, or disabuse them of a poorly informed notion.

So on Thursday April 8th we will try something more interactive. For the first hour of the public hearing, from 6:30-7:30, we will come down from the dais and dialogue with the people who have come to talk us. Each board member can sit in a different corner of the conference room, or in different rooms on the first floor. Board members may sit in pairs but must not sit in groups of three or more.

This is an opportunity to hear from multiple speakers simultaneously, an opportunity for two-way communication, an opportunity for people who aren’t comfortable speaking on microphone to the whole room, an opportunity for questions and answers that public hearings don't typically allow. The public hearing at the podium will follow but I suspect that many people, having already been heard on a more individual level, will pass. I hope that this will lead to a shorter and more productive public hearing.
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17 comments:

  1. Mr. STevens, your frustration with the process of hearing from your consituents, the people who pay for the schools, indicates it may be time for you to step down from your public service position.
    While public hearings may be long and tedious, they are valuable in that people go on record with their opinions and the public officials are held accountable on their responsiveness to them.
    The process for this Thursday could be a good way for both the public and the board to get a better understanding of the school budget process. However, there is no record created and therefore no real leverage to make sure that Board members are responsive to the public comments.
    Why no have a public hearing that allows for questions and follow-up?
    I doubt that there would be the same number of speakers as at a BOS hearing. Given that the school board approves 70% of the county budget, it seems reasonable to expect that the board would spend considerable time hearing from the public. Maybe then we won't bore you "ad nauseum" with our comments.
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  2. http://www.tooconservative.com/?p=6967

    After reading this Hatrick and the school board should be ashamed of yourselves. I have personally heard the scare tactics used by Hatrick and this school board. And why was Hatricks salary not made public yet. Stop playing games with your students and teachers and parents, and the public.
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  3. Well, I think it's a wonderful idea, and I suspect there are many others who do as well.

    There are lots of us who would prefer to speak in a small group with individual board members, and then if there is something we would like to have in the public record we would still have the formal public hearing available to us.

    This is a positive approach, and a welcome one. I hope it is successful.
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  4. I think Mr. Stevens and the school board is trying to make the meetings more efficient and give people who wouldn't otherwise speak up (in front of a large group) a voice to be heard. This idea could potentially allow a person to ask a question that they might think is not worth bringing to the entire group, it might cut down the time needed for the joint public comments, and could bring more, not less, of the public's concerns to the attention of the board. I think it is worth trying and I am glad for those who can and are thinking 'out of the box'.
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  5. One of Stevens' recent tweets says his inbox is full of thoousand dollar solutions to a million dollar problem. Well, add up all those thousands and you start to get somewhere. Similar to the sentiments expressed in the email I posted. No one in authority is interested in minor efficiencies, even though cumulatively they could have a real impact.
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  6. I am very concerned about the current situation, and I am one of those that is not comfortable speaking to a group. I am far more comfortable addressing issues in writing, but that does not usually lead to a positive conclusion.
    I am concerned for the students I teach who are not your "average" Loudoun County student. I have students who stayed in high school only because of freshman sports. Many of my students do not have Internet access at home, or have very old computers---our technology lab assistants stay after, come in early, as do our librarians, to make resources available to these students. However, with after school buses, the students will not be able to take advantage of those opportunities.
    Many of my students do not have parents at home who have gone to college, and they need our career center manager to help them navigate the confusing process of financial aid, scholarship applications and college visits.
    I am worried that by cutting reading specialists at the elementary school level, that the students won't be able to read when they get to high school.
    I have students who, like those who only come for athletics, only come for drama, band, chorus, or another club they love, including the one I sponsor. Without activity buses to get the students to competitions (think Band, FBLA, DECA) or club activities, we will lose those students.
    Additionally, a number of the clubs use their "bus time" to provide services to the community at large... they go work at the Holiday Coalition, ring bells for the Salvation Army, and support Red Cross disaster services in Loudoun County. They also help the DC Central Kitchen, Habitat for Humanity, March of Dimes, Loudoun Interfaith, the Good Shepherd Alliance, and the Claude Moore Foundation.
    I worry that the seniors who need "one class" to graduate will just drop out because summer school won't be offered. I worry that the students who attend the Academy of Science, or Monroe will have to choose between attending those schools, or staying in their base school because of course conflicts. I am worried that students who cannot afford private tutoring for SAT Prep will be adversely affected by the elimination of that course.
    Lastly, I'm scared of the furlough proposal... Not only will students with special needs lose that required consistency, but I can't afford to not be paid. Northern Virginia is a very expensive place to live; I already live in an "affordable dwelling unit", which I qualify for based on income restrictions. And I'm not a first year teacher; I'm over 10 years, and have 2 graduate degrees.
    I can't hold the school board or Dr. Hatrick completely without guilt in this matter---there was no reason for Dr. Hatrick to state to the Board of Supervisors that the funding was for one time purchases, when it was clearly for a number of necessary services.
    I probably won't join the public hearing tomorrow because talking isn't always one of my strong points. So, this will have to do.
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  7. Well said NonnyMouz. I agree with all you have written. Why are these job cuts and furloughs in the first tier? The very small schools in western Loudoun need to be closed first! We can no longer afford this expensive homage to Loudoun's rural past at the ridiculously high cost per pupil. I believe that is why Priscilla Godfrey wanted to limit cuts to the first tier. The waste of keeping those schools open in her district were in the tier 2 cuts. She is a nice lady, and is looking out for her constituents, but c'mon School Board, close these money-sucking small rural schools before you lay off one school-based employee. The staff at those small schools could be absorbed across the rest of the County elementary schools.
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  8. The cuts will cause difficulties for parents, students and teachers. When they talk about 30 + kids in a highschool class there will be no individulized attention. Let alone the reduction in the number of reading teachers Kids will arrive in high school without the neccessary skills for success
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  9. John,
    I agree, it is good that you are encouraging dialogue. What have you done, other than post this notice on your blog, to INFORM the public of this new approach. Why not advertise it with CONNECT ED? Or would you rather keep this mum?
    If it's really so frustrating for you, as Chairman, why don't you change the format of your meetings to empower yourselves to respond to individual speakers - at least at the end of a public hearing if not throughout.
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  10. I wanted to come back and follow up on my post. My high school students were discussing this today during study hall & lunch periods... the students who are weaker academically and in danger of failing classes that they might have been able to make up in summer school have said they will drop out instead of taking two of the classes at once or staying for the "five year plan". I find that to be so very, very, incredibly sad. Another student said that he would rather be homeschooled if he can't do track & field or cross country next year because of the budget cuts. He was a freshman this year, so next year he can do JV... if there is a space for him. Most of the coaches are going to allow freshman to try out for the JV teams, which has the certainty of bumping some of the good, but not stellar sophomores who were on the freshman teams this year.
    Other students are worried about how their parents are going to pay $900 for sports fees because they play football, basketball, and baseball. They are concerned, as are my students in marching band, whether or not they will even be able to get to the games.
    Some of the students are worried that their teachers will leave to go to Fairfax County, Prince William or even Frederick, MD and DC. The teachers in those counties were either given raises from COLA or step, or in the case of DC, 20% increase over 5 years. And, none of those teachers need to worry about being furloughed. I'm already seeing teachers in my building apply to Fairfax County schools, so I can't reassure my students that their coach or club sponsor will be back next year, the case manager they've had for 3 years will be there for senior year, or that the teacher who always had that granola bar or that bottle of water, or the space for them to eat lunch will be there. A lot of the teachers who do stay will have to pick up part-time jobs or tutoring, which will also cut access to clubs and coaches.
    This can't be a good thing... I rarely hear such focused, spot-on comments from the large number of students. I'm not saying that the students don't notice or care what is going on, but this issue has ALL of their attention.
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  11. Please keep in mind that many teachers are married to teachers. Each furlough day counts as two unpaid days for many families, and many of us already live paycheck to paycheck in this very expensive county. Thank you.
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  12. Does it really matter whether I come in and talk to individually or to the whole School Board? Not really. Your minds are made up of what will be cut. It's obvious by what's already on the chopping block and what new fees are suggested. It sucks to be a parent with kids in school and Loudoun taxpayers since we're really not heard. Dr Hatrick and you, the school board has done a terrible job of communicating and setting better priorities in the budget. Why are we opening all 3 schools next year? Where are the cuts from Dr Hatrick's group? Why does he need an $11K allowance? Even though my property value has gone down about 30% in a few years, my person property taxes still go up. I bet a few of the Loudoun taxpayers could go through the actual budget and do a better job of prioritizing. I'm very unhappy with the current School Board and Dr Hatrick and will show that at the next election. Stop with the egos and work with parents that have kids that go to school and pay taxes.
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  13. I'm copying this post here as well.

    What data are you using anonymous? Closing 4 community schools in rural Loudoun will only save $2.2 million and this is debatable because all of the teachers and staff would be needed to teach the students somewhere else. Also, transportation costs would be more to bus them east or north. And as you stated the capital costs to build a new school and operate it are substantial. All 4 community schools are paid for unlike new construction. I think it would be a better use of taxpayer dollars to maximize what we already own. Expand the boundaries and fill the schools or expand the school and take more kids from eastern schools that are overcrowded. I don't think we can afford to shut down any seats when we have 3,000 entering students a year.
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  14. I think 2.2 million is a sizable sum and would save quite a few jobs that may be eliminated. There are always teaching vacancies every year and the 40 or so teachers affected by closing these 4 poorly attended schools could fill in to the open positions. These are not the "little red schoolhouse" of the past. There are lots of state and federal regulations that a school must meet regardless of size, and thus we have 4 schools with around 100 students each that are way more expensive to run per student than the newer elementary schools.
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  15. Again, where are you getting your data? If you add the operating costs and the capital costs of the newer schools, they are far more expensive per student than the 4 schools that are already paid for. You cannot look at the operating costs only!!! It costs about $20 million to build newer elementary schools and this does not include land acquisition. Taxpayers foot the bill for both operating and capital costs. Show me the savings with data. Otherwise, your argument falls short and looks like a bias against different school models/designs. These schools are all high performing and are an integral part of the rural towns and villages.
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  16. I believe it was already determined when the Tier 2 cuts were identified during last year's budget deliberations that no new schools would have to be built to provide seats for the less than 400 students in the four "private" schools paid for by Loudoun taxpayers. Operating costs go on year after year, and are not one time expenses. The 2.2 million to run these schools would be saved every year into the future. And that was 2.2 million last year. The cost has probably increased and will increase every year.
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  17. I bet the biggest single expense in running the wonderful small schools in western Loudoun is the principal's salary. With the proposed "half-time principals" this cost will be cut in half. Not happy about the idea of a half time principal, but it's better than closing these schools! Good grief, the buildings are paid for, the teachers like where they are, so do the parents and students. Stop hating on the small schools. I suspect 'Anonymous' would feel differently if her child attended one of these schools. Sour grapes. Why would you want to close a high achieving school that enhances Loudoun County's reputation? One of the small schools, Lincoln, is ranked number 1 in the state based on test scores. Let's close it so that NO Loudoun County elementary school has that honor. Maybe instead of closing these high achieving schools the rest of the county could look at what makes these schools so successful and try and emulate them (hint...parental involvement, highly committed teachers and principals, not just smaller numbers).
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