You can download the audio file at:
http://toledopoliticians.com/10_30_2007_tps_audio
My technology failed me. My Newton battery died and I had to take notes on paper, go figure. I want to thank Twila Paige for bringing my recorder to the meeting and getting it started. I knew I would not be able to make it until around 7 or so, so she allowed you to hear the whole meeting.
The first thing is it appears that we won. Citizen comments were not split up like they have been and I think the pressure brought on the board members is starting to pay off. I was not there for the first 1.5 hrs and Twila said they did not even vote on it. Only time will tell if it is a temporary victory to appease voters for the election next week or if the other board members (excluding Robert and Darlene who tried to change it last meeting) will continue to support it.
Maybe others can comment on what was said at the beginning. I came in on the discussion of the Scott HS. There were some representatives at the board meeting who were pushing the district to begin the renovation as well as implement a plan to help with the funding. There appeared to be a run around and not many solid answers from the administration, but compared to a year ago when they started pushing, we are at least making progress.
They also talked about the levy language. The district is considering revising the wording of the levy. If they did so and put it up to a vote, it would allow the district to borrow 30-40 million more for the building program. Currently the language is very specific for the locally funded initiatives which means they are limited in what they can use the money for.
The district also talked about refinancing bonds and is considering/has hired a consultant to guide them on this.
Ford pushed the administration on the policy on if parents wish to get graded papers. He wanted the district to adopt a policy. I believe a speaker before had a problem with getting papers from the teacher.
Torres pushed for more parental representation at the board table.
There was considerable discussion on the construction of the new Grove Paterson. Apparently one sub contractor pulled out which caused 3 bidders to drop out. Torres wondered why the bidder from Detriot was not picked. Victor said that they dropped out an hour before the deadline. They talked about whether to actually accept the bid or not. Ford said they should have more time and what about the options. The admin said they may not be able to pull out of the accepted bid. Ford pushed on the minority bidder until he learned they were from Detroit then he said we should go with the local one. The board approved the bid, although there was fair warning that there should be more thought into the acceptance of the bid.
Larry Sykes left early with no word on why at around 7:17
The board went into an executive session to talk about an MOU. They voted to approve it.
Then Robert Torres pushed to hear from Zhara Collins. She called at 12:02 (according to the district) and was told the deadline passed and could not talk. Robert said that was not fair and different watches could say different times. Steel said that he relies on the treasurer to make decisions on who is eligible. Treasurer said he received the call after the deadline. Ford said he would like to hear her and apologized to Steel for violating policy. Steel was adamate on following policy. Ford made a motion to listen. Torres seconded it. The vote was 4-0 to listen to Zhara. Zhara talked about saving Scott and how important it was. On a personal note it was good to see Ford actually paying attention to people speaking, unlike last meeting. Sometimes pressure is good.
District said that the projected carryover is 7.8. Then he said even though it was a projected carryover 14 million of that was all ready used. It did not make sense. He said that 14 million was for poverty based assistance. I could not understand why he said there was a 7 million dollar carryover but 14 million (7 million deficit???) was already committeed.
Ford asked about the deficits in 2010 and 2011. District said that there would be a 100million deficit in 2012 or so(I can't remember the year) and said it would require significant millage. On a personal note, I began to wonder why no one asked what are we doing to head this off?
District said there are renewals in 08, 09, 10.
Darlene Fisher talked about the UT Education conference and the positive things talked about there.
The meeting adjourned around 9:30.
Feel free to add your thoughts, especially the first part of the meeting.
