7-11 Committee

By Lester Silverman

Les can implement recommendations of the 7-11 committee and offer altrnatives to selling school land.

Some other solutions other than selling land are as follows:

We need to make sure all our lease arrangements are at market value. While I agree in general with the 7-11 committee findings and recommendations and I plan to make sure these goals meet the schools needs and are feasible. Any discrepancies between what the 7-11 committee is recommending as surplus and what the School District considers surplus needs to be reconciled. For instance, the 7-11 committee identified the maintenance yard as being surplus, yet it is seen as vital to the District as a receiving station for cafeteria food and many other supplies and distribution to the 7 schools.

We need to create a public-private partnership with our City Hall and our Education Foundation, and perhaps other entities to implement feasible ways to pay down the school debt. By our schools keeping their land, and finding land, deemed surplus, those areas can be build on and leased out. The resulting income stream can alleviate our school debt. Our Education Foundation is likely the coordinating body for making these matters happen.

In some previous School Boards there was much question as to how money was spent and yet not monitored. We need to make sure the right questions are asked and pursued. We need the whole community to be apprised and be given adequate opportunity to weigh in on the process.

Better communication can be achieved by more liaisons from each of the schools attending board meeting and keeping the parents of each school updated. My experience and how I evolved my liaison role can serve as a model.