Back On Track and Doing What I Can

Before going into my activities for the week I want to reiterate and clarify some things about this blog.  As I have stated in the beginning, this blog is to give you insight into MY activities as a Board Member.  Not all of us are at the same places all of the time but please know that even though I say “I” A TREMNDOUS AMOUNT, more often than not there are other Board Members with me as well.  I don’t mention them specifically because I do not feel it is my place to speak about their activities.  I speak here as an individual Board Member.  I do not speak for the Board.  If occasionally I slip and say something like, “We as a Board felt…” understand that I am not authorized to speak for the Board here…I think I slipped last week…no one is perfect.  Also know that there are many things that I CHOOSE to do as a Board Member but are not necessarily required of a Board Member.  I don’t say this to pat myself on the back or for you to be impressed…first of all, if anyone is thinking about running for the Board you shouldn’t be turned off because it seems like so much.  I mean…it is a big commitment but each and every one of us does what we can.  I do a lot of what I do simply because…well…I can.  My inspiration is Phil Collins.  Don’t laugh.  Seriously.  And it has nothing to do with “Sussudio”…whatever the heck that is!!!  Anyway, I don’t remember how long ago this was but there was some huge benefit worldwide many moons ago…maybe it was Oxfam or something…I don’t know…but there were simultaneous concerts going on in the United States and in London.  Phil Collins performed in both places…he finished his performance in London and hopped on the Concord and performed again in the US and everyone went wild talking about what an amazing guy he is and how wonderful…and on and on.  In an interview he responded to his accolades by simply stating, “Yes…I did that…because I can.”  It was as simple as that.  No recognition needed…he didn’t intend to be in the spotlight for it…he did it because he felt it was doable for him.  End of story.

For those of you that read this and know me…I know you understand what I am saying.  All of the Board Members that this community elected are dedicated.  Here I only speak for me and the things that I do because…well…this is MY blog.   I hope that through my writing you can get a sense of what it is to be a Board Member but more importantly for you to understand not only what it entails but to understand some of the broader pictures.  Aside from giving you information on how things work at our local level I also hope to give you some insight into the broader issues that are effecting education.  Board Members keep a close eye on what is going on in the world of education.  I will continue to TRY to be vvvveeeeerrrrrrryyyyy good about not necessarily telling you what I think about certain things because this is not about my thoughts but rather my activities and I guess we can add to that the things that I hear about or are learning about.   And if I pique your interest enough that maybe you decide to come to a Work Board Meeting or a Regular Meeting or even a community event that I talk about in advance or to get involved in an educational cause then WOOHOO!!! 

Also know that this second year of me on the Board finds me doing much of what I did last year before my blog…the only difference is that now I tell you about it (although, there are still things I leave out because you don’t need to know about every email I send or question I ask or article I read…I only share what I think you might find interesting or even…entertaining).  I do not begrudge a second of anything I do.  It also doesn’t enter into my thought process that you are judging me or the Board from the things that I write here.  Just take it for what it is…and it is what it is…PURE AND SIMPLE.

All that having been said, I was able to take off the roller skates this week which was very helpful in the effort to get this blog back on track.  On Monday there was a District Health and Safety Committee Meeting.  By way of explanation, each building has its own Health and Safety Committee and has meetings of their own.  Each building then sends representatives to the District Committee Meeting to report on the buildings.  Central Council PTA sends representatives as well that are there to represent the PTA parents that sit at the building level and their concerns.  Three Board Members are liaisons to the committee and the meeting is run by the Director of Buildings and Grounds.  I think I might have explained before the difference between a Board Committee and District Committees that Board Members sit on…if I haven’t and you would like to know…feel free to ask your nearest Board Member.  Back to the meeting itself, by law the District is supposed to have a District Safety Plan and it is to be reviewed annually.  This was accomplished this first meeting.  Depending on changing laws and changing programs there may either be a lot to do or little to do…this year there were a lot of updates to our specific plan mostly because we have many new administrators!

I have told you about Governor Cuomo’s Education Hearings and now more recently Senator Flanagan’s Education Hearings and now this week I learned that now Assemblymen are holding forums on education and the Common Core and State testing, etc...I decided to email the Assemblyman who is spearheading this (not ours, by the way) to thank him for his efforts but also to ask when someone was actually going to DO something.  I also thought that he should be aware that the forum scheduled for Nassau County is on the day that the New York State School Board Association’s Annual Convention in Rochester begins.  Many people who would otherwise attend his forum are most likely already signed up for the Convention, including, Board Members, Admistrators,  Teachers, etc…It sort of reminded me of the hearing Governor Cuomo had scheduled in Albany last year on May 21st…the day every school district in New York voted on their budget…just saying.

Last week I told you about the Policy Committee.  I hope that you did not infer from what I said that the Board didn’t think that policymaking was important before we had this new committee. You can look at it both ways…policymaking is so important that the Board acts as a whole or policymaking is so important that the Board has a separate committee doing the work.   Actually, the thought process either way is the same…the bottom line is that policymaking is so important.  The only thing that changes is the process.  In the end, either way, only a vote of the Board can change, rescind, or add a new policy.  We all still do policy work.  That having been said, we didn’t have another Committee meeting but I did meet with two members of the Superintendency to discuss the agenda for our next meeting that is scheduled next week.

This week the Board had a Special Meeting which was mostly spent in Executive Session to discuss the hiring of particular personnel.  And as I have explained before, that is all I can say about that.

After Homecoming and all my talk about going to games… etc… etc… I took a look at the Fall lineup of games (Soccer and Football) and realized that due to obligations in my personal and family life I am not going to be able to get to very many…if any at all!!!  Now I feel a little embarrassed but as I said at the beginning of this post…you do what you can do!!!!  We all do.

And now, if YOU CAN come to Arts Below Sunrise at some point between 10 and 5 on Sunday or the Community Garden on Monday at 3:30PM that would be really great!  It is my plan to go to both.  Next week will be heavy on the front end and then will taper out…which will continue to help me keep on track here…either way…I will continue to do what I can!