The first of 3 back to back public hearings was held this morning with the board of Trustees. Ever wonder who's making those decisions on teacher salaries, benefits, text books, and Internet access at your local schools ?
Now is a good time to come introduce yourself and share a comment or two.
At the door to the hearing, you can pickup a blue 5x7 card and jot down your thoughts or just hand them a letter in person. Use a YELLOW highlighter to make the points that are most important to you.
This morning was my first time to visit the Admin building. The hearing went rather quickly - when you only have two minutes, it's like a TV commercial - you'd better be thinking about what's most important, because you don't have time to share much history.
But, a well organized approach was working for Circle C Ranch and the other residents of South West Austin. Three of our CCHOA directors spoke, each on separate points. Quentin Feennessy spoke about the need for a larger budget to include not only a new middle school, but the Art's Center that McCallum HS certainly needs. The total bond increase would only be a little over 10-15% more.
You can see the hearing from this morning on Cable Ch 22 from time to time.
The next hearing is at Reagan HS. It?’s important that people up there hear from us and what is really happening down here. That doesn't mean we can't support other issues that were not funded, such as the Arts facility that would be appropriate for McCallum HS
So, put on your Circle C hats and shirts, and please show up, even if you don't intend to speak. We need a large show of support on Monday night !!!
We are still trying to get access to Pat Forgione's consultant, Mr Dennis Harner. He is using census and demographics data that, so far, does not reflect the rapid growthin in our corner of Austin !? Getting access to him has been difficult and keeps getting postponed. Mr Turner told me today, that they were getting newer data, to reflect THIS YEAR's demographices !? (That makes you wonder if the board have been using outdated data to make important decisions).
Still worse, the consultant used a Survey to gage what Austin voters would pass in the way of a bond package. To this day, AISD is telling us we can not review the raw data from that survey!? (If you can't validate a study like that, it's highly suspect and it should not be used, alone, as the bassis for important decisions. This is why Pat Forgione apparently thinks that we can only ass a $420 million bond package, vs the full $600 AISD actually needs today).
Now is a good time to come introduce yourself and share a comment or two.
At the door to the hearing, you can pickup a blue 5x7 card and jot down your thoughts or just hand them a letter in person. Use a YELLOW highlighter to make the points that are most important to you.
This morning was my first time to visit the Admin building. The hearing went rather quickly - when you only have two minutes, it's like a TV commercial - you'd better be thinking about what's most important, because you don't have time to share much history.
But, a well organized approach was working for Circle C Ranch and the other residents of South West Austin. Three of our CCHOA directors spoke, each on separate points. Quentin Feennessy spoke about the need for a larger budget to include not only a new middle school, but the Art's Center that McCallum HS certainly needs. The total bond increase would only be a little over 10-15% more.
You can see the hearing from this morning on Cable Ch 22 from time to time.
The next hearing is at Reagan HS. It?’s important that people up there hear from us and what is really happening down here. That doesn't mean we can't support other issues that were not funded, such as the Arts facility that would be appropriate for McCallum HS
So, put on your Circle C hats and shirts, and please show up, even if you don't intend to speak. We need a large show of support on Monday night !!!
We are still trying to get access to Pat Forgione's consultant, Mr Dennis Harner. He is using census and demographics data that, so far, does not reflect the rapid growthin in our corner of Austin !? Getting access to him has been difficult and keeps getting postponed. Mr Turner told me today, that they were getting newer data, to reflect THIS YEAR's demographices !? (That makes you wonder if the board have been using outdated data to make important decisions).
Still worse, the consultant used a Survey to gage what Austin voters would pass in the way of a bond package. To this day, AISD is telling us we can not review the raw data from that survey!? (If you can't validate a study like that, it's highly suspect and it should not be used, alone, as the bassis for important decisions. This is why Pat Forgione apparently thinks that we can only ass a $420 million bond package, vs the full $600 AISD actually needs today).
