Last nights candidates forum

[Socrates]

After last night’s candidates forum, I feel the need to point out several fallacies in the platforms of two running mates and the third candidate running on a ‘change’ platform.

Two running mates, Hossain and Studley, point to bullying and drug use as key issues to be worked on if they get elected. Their solution? A series of easily Googled web links on the subjects that are posted to their website. Seriously, how much time does it take to Google ‘bullying’ or ‘substance use’ grab the first four or five most popular search results and ‘voila’ you’ve created a ‘platform’ to ‘solve’ a so-called problem.

If the two of them had bothered to do their homework, they would know a few things about the Lancaster Central School District, its caring faculty and staff, its highly engaged and motivated administration, and its dedicated board of education and superintendent.

First, let’s talk about bullying. Bullying is a buzzword that has been raised in society’s consciousness after a series of very high profile tragedies. In partnership with the Lancaster Educational and Alumni Foundation and a grant from a generous alumnus, LCSD was the first local school district to implement the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. Also, AHEAD OF STATE MANDATES, the district created its Bullyproof Partnership, the district wide committee that eventually encompassed DASA coordinators (Dignity for All Students Act) as well as school and district administrators. The district is one of a few in Western New York that has a Family Support Center, who’s office is located side-by-side with the school resource officer at Lancaster Middle School, one of two SROs in the district. LCSD has an online bullying reporting system on its website that is monitored by the SROs. The Family Support Center frequently offers programs for parents on topics of special interest including bullying, online safety, and substance abuse awareness/prevention. Como Park Elementary borrowed an idea from a neighboring school district which has since been implemented district wide at the K-6 level, “The Peace Bus,” where students, bus drivers, and teachers have regularly scheduled meetings to brainstorm ways in which to make the school bus a positive environment. Bus incident reports have fallen as a result. The district’s annual Day of Kindness, one of a kind in Western New York, was initiated by the Bullyproof Partnership to create a district wide event in solidarity to support a positive school environment—many schools have now extended the Day of Kindness over the entire month of February. Faculty, staff, and students are not only encouraged to commit random acts of kindness for one another, but dozens upon dozens of community service projects have grown out of this initiative. This is but the tip of the iceberg in terms of initiatives Lancaster has taken to address bullying. Are there things that could be done better? Perhaps. That is why the district partnered with the UB Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention (Graduate School of Education) to deliver the first of its kind in Western New York survey of teachers, bus drivers, parents and students, K-12 about our district’s efforts in this regard.

Another leg of their platform ‘substance use,’ again is based on a heightened urgency for SOCIETY to work on issues such as opioid addiction and other addictive substances. Lancaster is certainly not immune to this problem. But again, throwing a bunch of links on a website is far from the solution. I’m willing to bet neither candidate is aware of the district’s longstanding partnership with the Lancaster Youth Bureau, the Lancaster Police, the Erie County Council for the Prevention of Alcohol and Substance Abuse, and a host of other providers that make up the Lancaster Depew Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition. Dr. Hossain seems to think that she can tap into a well of grant funding to lower your taxes and solve every issue the district faces. She should know that much of the decade-long work of the LDSAPC was grant-funded. This partnership keeps close tabs on local statistics (not Google links) from the Erie County Department of Health. Would it surprise you to realize that the overwhelming preponderance of drug arrests made by the Town of Lancaster Police occur at the micro-hotels on Transit Road and generally involve transient adults?

One thing that REALLY bothered me as a parent is when Dr. Hossain got on her soapbox about how she meets "so many students at UB who are unprepared for college" and she virtually promised to ride in on a white stallion and save Lancaster from its academic demise. I, for one, was HIGHLY INSULTED that someone who doesn't have children in the district, who has never shown her face until two months ago, would presume to judge the merits of a Lancaster education and the relative preparedness of our students. The more I thought about it, the more steamed I got. From personal experience, I spoke at length with two of my daughter’s professors during commencement last week and they could not speak highly enough of how well-prepared she was for the program that she took. She graduated Summa Cum Laude (one of only 8 in her major). She wasn't in the Top 10 at LHS, in fact, just a high-average kid who took advantage of everything the school had to offer. Her parents, she, her university, and one of her prospective future employers all said that her success is directly related to Project Lead The Way and the phenomenal head start she got at LHS. One of the profs told me they zeroed in on her as a freshman as soon as they saw the program she was coming from. This district has a 98 percent graduation rate, a 0 drop out rate after five years. Furthermore, our special education department works diligently to ensure every child’s success. The addition of a trades academy next year, to the other six academies we already have (unlike ANY other district in WNY) will serve to provide a sound footing for those who are not college-bound. We send students to Cornell, West Point, RPI, U of R; and, of course, UB is always there as an option for those who chose to stay home and save a few dollars on their education, thank you very much Dr. Hossain.

Studley and Brown only started coming to meetings when the mascot name was changed, and Hossain appeared out of no where. Is it just me, or does anyone else find it highly suspect that a person of such high academic standing, and a prestigious career in academia purports to live in a duplex in a somewhat rundown area of town? Or, maybe, she doesn’t live there.

[Socrates]

Lancaster/Depew Bee
1 hr
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LANCASTERBEE.COM

[Lee Chowaniec]

Hey Socrates:

Appreciate your report on Monday evening’s Meet the Candidates Forum. As you were there, how many residents do you estimate attended? How many of those attendees stayed for the budget presentation and public hearing?

This is the first year in the past 10 that I have not attended regular and budget work sessions for myriad personal reasons. I do have them recorded for me or watch the sessions on TV so I stay in the loop.

What I heard in Monday’s recording was the constant drone of the three anti administration BOE candidates chastising the current administration and some BOE members for their lack of transparency, their uncivil and uncommunicative conduct and the failure to spend down reserves they believed were overfunded. Studley, Nargis and Brown voiced the community was being shut out of being involved in the decision making process and thereby the BOE was not acting in the best interest of the kids and/or the community.

I was told approximately 50 residents attended the candidate forum and only 15 stayed for the budget hearing. In fact, I was told even candidate Brown did not say. What’s the point; simply that the candidates and their supporters had their say at the forum but as usual were no shows when it came time to listen on how and where the district really spends its money, the actual use of reserves, their functions and actual legal limit use to balance a budget (all nine mentioned), school technology, AP Programs (18 and three new ones), student proficiency, a 98% graduation rate, cost efficiency ranking, etc.

District Superintendent Dr. Vallely gave an enlightening presentation on the history of Lancaster’s plight on where the district was prior to the 2009 NYS GEP introduction and from then on with the introduction of the tax cap levy. In the years 2007 -09 there were no school tax increases. In 2010 there was a 9.76% tax increase and the voters accepted the increase because they understood the reasons why and were interested in their children’s education.

This year the district by formula and tax cap law could have increased the tax levy by 3.72%. The district has whittled that number down to 2.17% while avoiding any cuts to staffing and programs. The result is a Town of Lancaster tax rate increase of 0.19% - $19 for a home assessed at $100,000.

As usual, many of the naysayers weren’t there to hear the presentation. The same holds true for budget work sessions where only a handful of people attend – and where for years the BOE hs encouraged such attendance and participation.

The claims made by candidates that there is no transparency, a lack of civility and respect on the part of the BOE when in fact they are often treated with disrespect and unfounded claims, and that a change is needed is disingenuous and only serves to tarnish a school district’s good reputation – IMO.

[gorja]

After last night’s candidates forum, I feel the need to point out several fallacies in the platforms of two running mates and the third candidate running on a ‘change’ platform.

Two running mates, Hossain and Studley, point to bullying and drug use as key issues to be worked on if they get elected. Their solution? A series of easily Googled web links on the subjects that are posted to their website. Seriously, how much time does it take to Google ‘bullying’ or ‘substance use’ grab the first four or five most popular search results and ‘voila’ you’ve created a ‘platform’ to ‘solve’ a so-called problem.

If the two of them had bothered to do their homework, they would know a few things about the Lancaster Central School District, its caring faculty and staff, its highly engaged and motivated administration, and its dedicated board of education and superintendent.

First, let’s talk about bullying. Bullying is a buzzword that has been raised in society’s consciousness after a series of very high profile tragedies. In partnership with the Lancaster Educational and Alumni Foundation and a grant from a generous alumnus, LCSD was the first local school district to implement the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. Also, AHEAD OF STATE MANDATES, the district created its Bullyproof Partnership, the district wide committee that eventually encompassed DASA coordinators (Dignity for All Students Act) as well as school and district administrators. The district is one of a few in Western New York that has a Family Support Center, who’s office is located side-by-side with the school resource officer at Lancaster Middle School, one of two SROs in the district. LCSD has an online bullying reporting system on its website that is monitored by the SROs. The Family Support Center frequently offers programs for parents on topics of special interest including bullying, online safety, and substance abuse awareness/prevention. Como Park Elementary borrowed an idea from a neighboring school district which has since been implemented district wide at the K-6 level, “The Peace Bus,” where students, bus drivers, and teachers have regularly scheduled meetings to brainstorm ways in which to make the school bus a positive environment. Bus incident reports have fallen as a result. The district’s annual Day of Kindness, one of a kind in Western New York, was initiated by the Bullyproof Partnership to create a district wide event in solidarity to support a positive school environment—many schools have now extended the Day of Kindness over the entire month of February. Faculty, staff, and students are not only encouraged to commit random acts of kindness for one another, but dozens upon dozens of community service projects have grown out of this initiative. This is but the tip of the iceberg in terms of initiatives Lancaster has taken to address bullying. Are there things that could be done better? Perhaps. That is why the district partnered with the UB Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention (Graduate School of Education) to deliver the first of its kind in Western New York survey of teachers, bus drivers, parents and students, K-12 about our district’s efforts in this regard.

Another leg of their platform ‘substance use,’ again is based on a heightened urgency for SOCIETY to work on issues such as opioid addiction and other addictive substances. Lancaster is certainly not immune to this problem. But again, throwing a bunch of links on a website is far from the solution. I’m willing to bet neither candidate is aware of the district’s longstanding partnership with the Lancaster Youth Bureau, the Lancaster Police, the Erie County Council for the Prevention of Alcohol and Substance Abuse, and a host of other providers that make up the Lancaster Depew Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition. Dr. Hossain seems to think that she can tap into a well of grant funding to lower your taxes and solve every issue the district faces. She should know that much of the decade-long work of the LDSAPC was grant-funded. This partnership keeps close tabs on local statistics (not Google links) from the Erie County Department of Health. Would it surprise you to realize that the overwhelming preponderance of drug arrests made by the Town of Lancaster Police occur at the micro-hotels on Transit Road and generally involve transient adults?

One thing that REALLY bothered me as a parent is when Dr. Hossain got on her soapbox about how she meets "so many students at UB who are unprepared for college" and she virtually promised to ride in on a white stallion and save Lancaster from its academic demise. I, for one, was HIGHLY INSULTED that someone who doesn't have children in the district, who has never shown her face until two months ago, would presume to judge the merits of a Lancaster education and the relative preparedness of our students. The more I thought about it, the more steamed I got. From personal experience, I spoke at length with two of my daughter’s professors during commencement last week and they could not speak highly enough of how well-prepared she was for the program that she took. She graduated Summa Cum Laude (one of only 8 in her major). She wasn't in the Top 10 at LHS, in fact, just a high-average kid who took advantage of everything the school had to offer. Her parents, she, her university, and one of her prospective future employers all said that her success is directly related to Project Lead The Way and the phenomenal head start she got at LHS. One of the profs told me they zeroed in on her as a freshman as soon as they saw the program she was coming from. This district has a 98 percent graduation rate, a 0 drop out rate after five years. Furthermore, our special education department works diligently to ensure every child’s success. The addition of a trades academy next year, to the other six academies we already have (unlike ANY other district in WNY) will serve to provide a sound footing for those who are not college-bound. We send students to Cornell, West Point, RPI, U of R; and, of course, UB is always there as an option for those who chose to stay home and save a few dollars on their education, thank you very much Dr. Hossain.

Studley and Brown only started coming to meetings when the mascot name was changed, and Hossain appeared out of no where. Is it just me, or does anyone else find it highly suspect that a person of such high academic standing, and a prestigious career in academia purports to live in a duplex in a somewhat rundown area of town? Or, maybe, she doesn’t live there.

Excellent, informative, factual post. Thank you Socrates

[Lancastermom]

Hey Socrates:

Appreciate your report on Monday evening’s Meet the Candidates Forum. As you were there, how many residents do you estimate attended? How many of those attendees stayed for the budget presentation and public hearing?

This is the first year in the past 10 that I have not attended regular and budget work sessions for myriad personal reasons. I do have them recorded for me or watch the sessions on TV so I stay in the loop.

What I heard in Monday’s recording was the constant drone of the three anti administration BOE candidates chastising the current administration and some BOE members for their lack of transparency, their uncivil and uncommunicative conduct and the failure to spend down reserves they believed were overfunded. Studley, Nargis and Brown voiced the community was being shut out of being involved in the decision making process and thereby the BOE was not acting in the best interest of the kids and/or the community.

I was told approximately 50 residents attended the candidate forum and only 15 stayed for the budget hearing. In fact, I was told even candidate Brown did not say. What’s the point; simply that the candidates and their supporters had their say at the forum but as usual were no shows when it came time to listen on how and where the district really spends its money, the actual use of reserves, their functions and actual legal limit use to balance a budget (all nine mentioned), school technology, AP Programs (18 and three new ones), student proficiency, a 98% graduation rate, cost efficiency ranking, etc.

District Superintendent Dr. Vallely gave an enlightening presentation on the history of Lancaster’s plight on where the district was prior to the 2009 NYS GEP introduction and from then on with the introduction of the tax cap levy. In the years 2007 -09 there were no school tax increases. In 2010 there was a 9.76% tax increase and the voters accepted the increase because they understood the reasons why and were interested in their children’s education.

This year the district by formula and tax cap law could have increased the tax levy by 3.72%. The district has whittled that number down to 2.17% while avoiding any cuts to staffing and programs. The result is a Town of Lancaster tax rate increase of 0.19% - $19 for a home assessed at $100,000.

As usual, many of the naysayers weren’t there to hear the presentation. The same holds true for budget work sessions where only a handful of people attend – and where for years the BOE hs encouraged such attendance and participation.

The claims made by candidates that there is no transparency, a lack of civility and respect on the part of the BOE when in fact they are often treated with disrespect and unfounded claims, and that a change is needed is disingenuous and only serves to tarnish a school district’s good reputation – IMO.

Hi Lee. Your informant is incorrect..several of us stayed for the budget session. Many supporters of all candidates left but you failed to mention it. I was there
Mrs. Brown had to return to work Lee. People here are very good at researching and getting information
Maybe reach out to the candidates and ask instead of speculating which only causes more inaccurate information to be posted..so many on this forum who are so vocal who go to other meetings weren't there that night.

[shortstuff]

After last night’s candidates forum, I feel the need to point out several fallacies in the platforms of two running mates and the third candidate running on a ‘change’ platform.

Two running mates, Hossain and Studley, point to bullying and drug use as key issues to be worked on if they get elected. Their solution? A series of easily Googled web links on the subjects that are posted to their website. Seriously, how much time does it take to Google ‘bullying’ or ‘substance use’ grab the first four or five most popular search results and ‘voila’ you’ve created a ‘platform’ to ‘solve’ a so-called problem.

If the two of them had bothered to do their homework, they would know a few things about the Lancaster Central School District, its caring faculty and staff, its highly engaged and motivated administration, and its dedicated board of education and superintendent.

First, let’s talk about bullying. Bullying is a buzzword that has been raised in society’s consciousness after a series of very high profile tragedies. In partnership with the Lancaster Educational and Alumni Foundation and a grant from a generous alumnus, LCSD was the first local school district to implement the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. Also, AHEAD OF STATE MANDATES, the district created its Bullyproof Partnership, the district wide committee that eventually encompassed DASA coordinators (Dignity for All Students Act) as well as school and district administrators. The district is one of a few in Western New York that has a Family Support Center, who’s office is located side-by-side with the school resource officer at Lancaster Middle School, one of two SROs in the district. LCSD has an online bullying reporting system on its website that is monitored by the SROs. The Family Support Center frequently offers programs for parents on topics of special interest including bullying, online safety, and substance abuse awareness/prevention. Como Park Elementary borrowed an idea from a neighboring school district which has since been implemented district wide at the K-6 level, “The Peace Bus,” where students, bus drivers, and teachers have regularly scheduled meetings to brainstorm ways in which to make the school bus a positive environment. Bus incident reports have fallen as a result. The district’s annual Day of Kindness, one of a kind in Western New York, was initiated by the Bullyproof Partnership to create a district wide event in solidarity to support a positive school environment—many schools have now extended the Day of Kindness over the entire month of February. Faculty, staff, and students are not only encouraged to commit random acts of kindness for one another, but dozens upon dozens of community service projects have grown out of this initiative. This is but the tip of the iceberg in terms of initiatives Lancaster has taken to address bullying. Are there things that could be done better? Perhaps. That is why the district partnered with the UB Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention (Graduate School of Education) to deliver the first of its kind in Western New York survey of teachers, bus drivers, parents and students, K-12 about our district’s efforts in this regard.

Another leg of their platform ‘substance use,’ again is based on a heightened urgency for SOCIETY to work on issues such as opioid addiction and other addictive substances. Lancaster is certainly not immune to this problem. But again, throwing a bunch of links on a website is far from the solution. I’m willing to bet neither candidate is aware of the district’s longstanding partnership with the Lancaster Youth Bureau, the Lancaster Police, the Erie County Council for the Prevention of Alcohol and Substance Abuse, and a host of other providers that make up the Lancaster Depew Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition. Dr. Hossain seems to think that she can tap into a well of grant funding to lower your taxes and solve every issue the district faces. She should know that much of the decade-long work of the LDSAPC was grant-funded. This partnership keeps close tabs on local statistics (not Google links) from the Erie County Department of Health. Would it surprise you to realize that the overwhelming preponderance of drug arrests made by the Town of Lancaster Police occur at the micro-hotels on Transit Road and generally involve transient adults?

One thing that REALLY bothered me as a parent is when Dr. Hossain got on her soapbox about how she meets "so many students at UB who are unprepared for college" and she virtually promised to ride in on a white stallion and save Lancaster from its academic demise. I, for one, was HIGHLY INSULTED that someone who doesn't have children in the district, who has never shown her face until two months ago, would presume to judge the merits of a Lancaster education and the relative preparedness of our students. The more I thought about it, the more steamed I got. From personal experience, I spoke at length with two of my daughter’s professors during commencement last week and they could not speak highly enough of how well-prepared she was for the program that she took. She graduated Summa Cum Laude (one of only 8 in her major). She wasn't in the Top 10 at LHS, in fact, just a high-average kid who took advantage of everything the school had to offer. Her parents, she, her university, and one of her prospective future employers all said that her success is directly related to Project Lead The Way and the phenomenal head start she got at LHS. One of the profs told me they zeroed in on her as a freshman as soon as they saw the program she was coming from. This district has a 98 percent graduation rate, a 0 drop out rate after five years. Furthermore, our special education department works diligently to ensure every child’s success. The addition of a trades academy next year, to the other six academies we already have (unlike ANY other district in WNY) will serve to provide a sound footing for those who are not college-bound. We send students to Cornell, West Point, RPI, U of R; and, of course, UB is always there as an option for those who chose to stay home and save a few dollars on their education, thank you very much Dr. Hossain.

Studley and Brown only started coming to meetings when the mascot name was changed, and Hossain appeared out of no where. Is it just me, or does anyone else find it highly suspect that a person of such high academic standing, and a prestigious career in academia purports to live in a duplex in a somewhat rundown area of town? Or, maybe, she doesn’t live there.

Thank you for the paragraph that informs us of the programs in place for prevention and remediation of various insightful programs you cited here Socrates. That is very good information to share to Speakup. However, you speak of how anti-administration the other slate brought to the forum, but in reality anyone that has an opposing idea/platform from the incumbents whom are Democrats will be displayed in a negative light because it is a different viewpoint. NOW to be clear, I do not support those you trashed negatively as you did (especially) in your last paragraph. I don't think those candidates trashed the homes the incumbents live in. Although I find it questionable regarding the duplex. I'll not touch that one.

My point of dissatisfaction of the Studley-Nargis last was simply about their double message. One on Facebook and one in front of the meet the candidate night and their message to the streets. Revisiting the Redskins issues was their first and last mistake so I truly believe they will not have a chance in this race.

Thank goodness in our free society that we have choices when we head to the polls, it would be a sad day in our democracy that one day we find ourselves heading to the polls only to see a one party system on the ballot. Be gracious, I wish all the candidates luck on election day.

[Lee Chowaniec]

Hi Lee. Your informant is incorrect..several of us stayed for the budget session. Many supporters of all candidates left but you failed to mention it. I was there
Mrs. Brown had to return to work Lee. People here are very good at researching and getting information
Maybe reach out to the candidates and ask instead of speculating which only causes more inaccurate information to be posted..so many on this forum who are so vocal who go to other meetings weren't there that night.

So, correct the information I received and posted and take the opportunity to tell me your thoughts on the budget.

The three candidates had said they have been supporting past budget approvals but since two years they have had doubts about the budget information presented and the lack of using more reserves to lower the budget. In fact, the word ‘mistrust’ was used on several occasions and one candidate proffered that she had not received enough budget information and was hedging on voting for the budget.

After listening to Dr. Vallely last night regarding the fiscal history of the district, the reserve funds and their function and use, and after listening to Mrs. Perinni speak on the districts accomplishments and rise in student proficiency, are you still of the mind that the district needs a change in direction?

BTW – I wrote that approximately 15 residents stayed for the budget hearing. Was that number far off? And were there only 50 residents at the candidate forum? That is a low turnout, is it not? What does that indicate to you?

[abc123]

lee, you are right in the range. when you remove the board members and prospective board members and employees of the district, maybe you are talking 20-25 ppl. the great joke about this is that brown, hossain and studley all talked about lack of transparency with the budget during their answers. jackson correctly pointed out that no one goes to the budget work sessions where you can gain the depth of understanding for how the budget is laid out. even the budget presentation goes into plenty of depth and every person who had a question (including an infamous brief speakup poster who completely missed the most basic points of the presentation) took to the podium and received detailed, thoughtful responses from dr vallely and ms phillips. so, we are to believe that the citizens of lancaster are so concerned about budget transparency, yet no one can even stay for a 1/2 hour to learn about it and get their question answered? amazing platform you have there ladies...meanwhile studley can't even say that she supports the budget, brown implied she voted against a small increase 2 years ago (hey, what else happened that year?) despite having 6 children go through the district. you can't make this up. these are your candidates...

back to socrates's excellent post, when are candidates who live in an amazing school district going to stop running on negativity, and grasping for anything they can to stir up ill will towards the district and its leaders? hossain claimed that lancaster students aren't prepared for UB. think about this for a minute. there are 5,000 new undergrads at UB each year. how many of those come from lancaster high school? 50? maybe? how in the world would someone in an administrative role in the department of surgery assess those students readiness for college relative to the other thousands enrolled? why would you have supporters spreading negativity on social media about drug or bullying problems being "ignored"? do they have any idea how insulting this is to the many, many teachers, administrators, counselors, resource officers, etc. involved in the programs socrates listed?

let's hope this is the last year of this nonsense.

[Neubs24]

let's hope this is the last year of this nonsense.

Next year Depczynski and Christopher are up for re-election, so I would say it should be, because this is the last chance for them to have a majority until 2019.

[shortstuff]

lee, you are right in the range. when you remove the board members and prospective board members and employees of the district, maybe you are talking 20-25 ppl. the great joke about this is that brown, hossain and studley all talked about lack of transparency with the budget during their answers. jackson correctly pointed out that no one goes to the budget work sessions where you can gain the depth of understanding for how the budget is laid out. even the budget presentation goes into plenty of depth and every person who had a question (including an infamous brief speakup poster who completely missed the most basic points of the presentation) took to the podium and received detailed, thoughtful responses from dr vallely and ms phillips. so, we are to believe that the citizens of lancaster are so concerned about budget transparency, yet no one can even stay for a 1/2 hour to learn about it and get their question answered? amazing platform you have there ladies...meanwhile studley can't even say that she supports the budget, brown implied she voted against a small increase 2 years ago (hey, what else happened that year?) despite having 6 children go through the district. you can't make this up. these are your candidates...

back to socrates's excellent post, when are candidates who live in an amazing school district going to stop running on negativity, and grasping for anything they can to stir up ill will towards the district and its leaders? hossain claimed that lancaster students aren't prepared for UB. think about this for a minute. there are 5,000 new undergrads at UB each year. how many of those come from lancaster high school? 50? maybe? how in the world would someone in an administrative role in the department of surgery assess those students readiness for college relative to the other thousands enrolled? why would you have supporters spreading negativity on social media about drug or bullying problems being "ignored"? do they have any idea how insulting this is to the many, many teachers, administrators, counselors, resource officers, etc. involved in the programs socrates listed?

let's hope this is the last year of this nonsense.

Sometimes I say to myself when I read some of your posts, ok I can agree with what she is stating here, but the part about students not collegiate ready-Nargis is an extreme person-yeah her vast extrapolation of what she stated -- over the top --but she had a fair shot at this having some relevance.... I attended at the high school a few years ago to meet the new Commissioner, MaryEllen Elia. She came to speak about her vision and took questions from the audience. There were a few parents who spoke to her in addition to asking her the question(s) about students graduating from high school being college ready. She touched on that and said throughout her travels she went to many colleges, spoke to many parents, teachers and students and found a profound disparity in college ready students. Yes, there is a great number absolutely ready, but we have a problem that stems from a socio-economic standpoint. If you identify only 50 students heading to a collegiate institute from Lancaster & 50 students from the inner city of Buffalo what kind of stats of success do we see here? Nargis was probably overreaching here, that is a wrong position for her to take. I agree with that. But this basic message could be relevant.

[shortstuff]

Next year Depczynski and Christopher are up for re-election, so I would say it should be, because this is the last chance for them to have a majority until 2019.

Yes their seats are up, I heard that Kim Nowak will be running again next year. Christopher & Depczynski are doing a fine job keeping the checks and balances in place. I hope when they start their campaign early in the season 2018 that they do one thing for me, be positive, stable in your thoughts with a consistent message of solidarity and collaborative platform. And please and I mean this in a nice way, do not have Greg Sojka head your campaign. Be true to yourselves.....Nowak can be a tough component...

[gorja]

May 8th education forum

[Socrates]

Lee you were quite right on the attendance. Once meet the candidates was over a majority of the people left. All the candidates stayed except for Bonita, as Lancastermom felt the need to point out. But my feeling is that it was too late. These candidates should have been at EVERY budget meeting so they understood what our district already offers and what requires funding and why. After all they do go through the budget line by line. How is that not transparent?

Bonita and Missy stated they had voted for the budgets in the past, however, last night at the William Street School HSA meeting, Nargis clearly stated she has NEVER voted, she was always too busy. That is concerning. She claims she wants to make changes to the school district when she has never been to any activities, functions, plays or musicals, has never voted and does not even bother to attend a budget meeting. The three of them looked very uneducated and dumbfounded up there, IMO.

What I find most disturbing was how defensive Missy-Diaz-Studly came off as right from her opening statement. You can even tell by the tone of her voice in the recording. She acted like she was fighting for her life right from the get go. Yet she claims she is very good at de-escalating situations. One has to wonder. With that said, when the question was asked "Do you support this budget", none of them gave a direct answer, they all referred to some notes they had printed in front of them. The question required a yes or no answer, Brown-Studley and Diaz all talked around the answer. I understand why Missy thought the question regarding children in the district, as she does not have any of her own, however, as insensitive as she thought it was, the question needed to be asked. When one looks for a Pediatrician, you look for one who has kids. When I look at a board member I want someone who is involved in the schools at activities and supporting the kids in all aspects. As there were many last year who claimed Sue Metz ran on a sympathy card, although she did not mention James at all, Missy seemed to flip that card while speaking at the HSA meeting last night.

We do not need another Mrs. Christopher on the board who's children do not attend the district, nor does she attend much of anything at the schools, she does not have a true vested interest, just a vendetta. One has to question the same for Diaz and Cappella.

[gorja]

What are the eligibility requirements for voting in a school election?
Is it just that you reside in the district?

[GEN3535]

What are the eligibility requirements for voting in a school election?
Is it just that you reside in the district?

I believe that you must also be 18 year of age.