Thank you to everyone who participated in our latest ThoughtExchange!
Over the past year, the Geneseo Central School District Board of Education, in conjunction with the Strategic Planning Committee, has been in the process of developing a strategic plan to provide a framework and guide for the district over the next five years.
At the March 9 Board of Education meeting, the board reviewed the draft plan with the administrative team. Subsequently, ahead of the March meeting, GCS ran a ThoughtExchange from Feb. 3-20 to gather input from GCS stakeholders on four focus areas included in the drafted plan.
The ThoughtExchange asked, “Reflecting on the draft strategic goals shared, what areas could be enhanced, refined, or added?”
The exchange had 199 participants, 70 thoughts, and 2,845 ratings. Stakeholder groups provided their thoughts and then rated the thoughts of others. Overall, top themes from the exchange were in regard to communication, budget, and facilities improvements. Click here to view the summary report.
District administrators and board of education members will use the results of the exchange to inform district priorities within the strategic plan.
Addressing the top thoughts from the February ThoughtExchange
The following has been compiled to address the top five thoughts (out of 70 total thoughts) from the February ThoughtExchange.
Thought 1: BOE should seek feedback directly from teachers. The game of telephone is not working. Our needs are not being accurately communicated through Admin. This plan had minimal input from staff and students.
The GCS Board of Education has, and will continue to seek feedback from all district stakeholders regarding the strategic plan, and other important district initiatives.
The GCS Board of Education sought feedback and direction from district staff and community members through surveys, goal group work, focus groups and several meetings.
Staff also had monthly opportunities throughout the last 15 months (since Nov. 2021)to share feedback and ideas at Geneseo Faculty Association (GFA) meetings. Mechanisms to promote open and two-way communication between staff and the Board of Education exist, with monthly meetings between the GFA President and Board of Education President.
Next steps: At the March 9 Board of Education Special meeting, the board reviewed the draft plan with the administrative team. As we move towards implementation, district staff will remain an integral part of the strategic planning process.
Thought 2: Hiring a public relations specialist: While I agree that the district's communications needs to be improved, spending money on yet another administrator seems the wrong way to go.
GCS recognizes the need to be the first and best source of district information to community stakeholders, while providing avenues for open and transparent two-way communication. A public relations specialist will be one way to be able to do this strategically and effectively.
It’s important to note that this is not an administrative-level position and will be through a collaborative Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) which are shared services contracts that are aidable through the state.
By partnering with the Capital Region BOCES Communications team, the service will provide our district with best practices in school communications.
Thought 3: Comparative financial analysis: teacher salaries The district is losing teachers, and is hiring new teachers at salaries higher than more experienced teachers. Identify a strategy to fix this!
Similar to the response from Thought 1, although we cannot speak to specifics, there are mechanisms in place (contracts, GFA, etc.) to address items included in Thought 3.
Thought 4: There is a disconnect to what the BOE is told about what happens in the classroom and the day to day happenings of the school and facility and truth. The BOE should be encouraged to speak to faculty regarding the school, curriculum, administration and the general state of the school.
If a single board member receives a question, comment, or concern, the expectation is that the board member refers back to the department in question and then shares the entire thread with the fellow board members. The GCS Board of Education recognizes the importance of an open dialogue and transparency.
In order to hear more from students and staff members more frequently and directly, we look forward to inviting [students and staff] to present at upcoming board meetings.
Thought 4: Communication is limited and controlled by administration. The community members, teachers, and BOE should have the freedom to speak to one another.
Like the GCS Board of Education, the district welcomes an open dialogue from all stakeholders, and there are mechanisms in place to handle all inquiries appropriately. Please visit the district website to view the protocol for resolving concerns.
Thought 5: Facilities are falling apart.
Beginning in the 2019-20 school year, we started planning for capital improvement projects, as we too have recognized the need to address the deficiencies in our facilities
Just like a home, school facilities need regular attention and upkeep to continue to operate year after year as originally intended. The cost of keeping up with the daily wear and tear caused by thousands of students, staff, and visitors can rise above what the annual school budget can support.
Capital improvement projects are a way for school districts to access state aid to complete a larger amount of facilities work than possible within the scope of the annual school budget. New York State Aid will cover approximately 70% of the district’s expenditures to offset the cost of these improvements.
The Board of Education seeks to continually make investments in our school buildings to provide a safe, competitive and innovative environment for students to learn.
We will address our facility needs, on an annual basis. We will allocate money through capital outlay projects to address these critical maintenance needs at a total cost of $250,000 per year.