The school board meeting is finished. It really is, I promise. For those of you who were there last Monday night for the three-hour marathon meeting, you understand my joke. Usually, the meetings aren’t that long, but this one was jam-packed with discussions and decisions. It’s actually a miracle the meeting is not still in progress. In the first hour and a half, a new principal was announced, detailed information on school debt was presented, authorization for security bids was accepted, and the high school roof bid was approved. That was just the beginning. There were still eight more agenda items to go. I think we should put world peace on the next agenda, and I bet they could knock it out in another three hours!
Seriously, the efficiency of these board members is amazing. Not only do they ask excellent questions that I’m sure are simmering on people’s minds, but they do their homework and obviously extensive research and reviews before the meetings.
Take the proposed new school calendar for 2013-2014 as an example. Dr. Robison presented a detailed powerpoint with four options from a balanced to a traditional calendar. There were 3,265 responses to a survey including staff, parents and students. He explained the results and a vote was about to be taken when a question arose about vacation around fall break. The vote was then moved to the next meeting when more data could be included and this question answered. No stone would be left unturned or question left unanswered.
As a resident of Carmel, I can honestly say that if my kids were school-aged again, I would consider moving to Zionsville, just to be a part of the school system. Since I starting covering the town last summer, I have been very impressed with the school programs, the facilities, but especially the staff.
Come to the next meeting so see for yourself how your tax dollars are in good hands and being used wisely and intentionally. I will be wandering there again and, hopefully, staying for less than three hours.