PLATTSBURGH — Nearly 50 Plattsburgh City residents filed into the gym of the Duken Building to participate in a public discussion about their district's schools.
Hosted by the Plattsburgh City School District, the Community Budget Forum was intended to educate attendees on decisions faced by the School Board during budget season and provide board members insight into what the public values most in its schools.
Participants at Wednesday's session included business owners, students, parents, and taxpayers of various socioeconomic backgrounds, each concerned with some aspect of public education.
IMPACT OF CUTS
"I'm concerned about budget cuts. I don't think that's the right way to go," forum participant James Armstrong said in an interview with the Press-Republican.
Armstrong, director of the Honors Program at Plattsburgh State, said he is particularly concerned with cuts to programs that affect economically disadvantaged students.
"If we deny them the possibility of getting a good education, we create costs for all of us, both in terms of increased incarceration, which is the lot of people that don't finish their education, and social welfare," he said.
TAXES, QUALITY
"I'm concerned about our tax rate, of course, and also about the schools and the quality of the schools in Plattsburgh," forum participant Beverly Kie told the Press-Republican.
Seated at tables comprising five or six individuals, participants were provided district demographic data that they discussed with their tablemates, making notes of their thoughts.
"The thing that struck me was the student poverty level of 40 to 50 percent," Lorri Keever, a district employee, told her group. "I was very saddened by it."
Other participants were impressed that the percentage of Plattsburgh School District students who pass state Regents tests is well above the state average in nearly every subject.
THE GOOD AND BAD
James "Jake" Short, superintendent of Plattsburgh City Schools, asked the groups to discuss and record what they perceived to be the district's strengths and weaknesses.
Several individuals named Plattsburgh's teaching staff and variety of elective and extension-program offerings as strengths, while a lack of parental involvement in students' education was cited as a weakness.
Other perceived weaknesses included a lack of community interest in running for a seat on the School Board and a shortage of instructional time for both faculty and students.
IMPORTANT SUBJECT
As residents shared their thoughts with one another, members of the School Board went from table to table, observing and listening to the conversations.
"It's really nice to see this many people gather and give input to something that means so much to them," Plattsburgh School Board President Leisa Boise said.
"It's obvious that education is huge to all of these people."
In his last question, Short asked participants to discuss and write down any thoughts they wished the board to consider in regard to programs, offerings, contracts, facilities, philosophies and the general direction of education.
RE-EVALUATE PROGRAMS
Clinton County Judge Patrick McGill told his group he thought the district should consider the cost as well as the benefit that each of its programs brings to students.
Just because there are programs they've traditionally had, he said, doesn't mean they are the most valuable.
"There ought to be a balance between the offerings being made," he said.
SPORTS
Armstrong told his group that while he is a sports fan, he thinks the district should rethink how it invests in sports programs.
Other countries don't have scholastic sports, he said, and they do just as well in the Olympics as the United States.
Short later told the Press-Republican in an email that he was pleased with the wide range of constituent groups that participated in the event, as well as the constructive conversations that took place.
"As important as the table discussions were for the board to listen to, I think they were equally valuable for community members to engage one another."
At the end of the forum, each table's notes were collected by board members, and participants were given the opportunity to fill out individual feedback forms.
"It will be these notes that will solidify for the board the 'pulse' of the community," Short said.
Email Ashleigh Livingston at: alivingston@pressrepublican.com
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