Calendar in question? Ask the parents

After watching Hillsborough feud for years over which holidays to observe, we found Bay County's method of seeking consensus quaint but refreshing.

The Panhandle district doesn't give the community the final say, but it lets residents vote online on which of two proposed academic calendars they like the best.

"This is a step in the right direction to get more community involvement," Lendy Willis, Bay's executive director of curriculum, told the Panama City News-Herald. "The more community input and involvement, the better we can guide our school system."

Granted, Bay County's population is quite different than Hillsborough's. Probably fewer arguments over the relative value of Easter vs. Yom Kippur or Eid al-Fitr, for instance. Still, it seems to have found a way to at least hear what folks have to say without having its disputes aired on national television.

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Comments

Dear "food,"

I have worked in and around politics for a long time. If you really want to be involved with the issues of your district, don't wait until the public comment portion of the meeting to let your school board members know what you think. Communicate with them in advance. Most of the important issues, like the school calendar or school start times, have to be addressed every year. The politicians will be much more interested in working on issues before the staff has necessarily (usually because of business schedules) locked into a recommendation. I can tell you that after nearly 20 years of working the Legisalture that I have only seen a handful of votes in committees that were actually impacted by testimony at a meeting. It is rare at all levels of government because it is difficult to take months and months just to make a simple decision like what time are the schools going to open or what should the work calendar be for the year.

[food for thought]

When it comes to the HCPS school district it's quite obvious that public input is only a process they have to put up with!
I have attended are either viewed quite a few of the board meeting on the HCPS web site and my opinion! public comments has almost never influence the way they voted in the end it always seemed to me that the way they planted to vote was already predetermined before the school board meeting even started .