C-R budget survey going online

1/4/2011

By Jim Poole


Cobleskill-Richmondville is making it easier for the public to weigh in on the upcoming 2011-12 school budget.
In an effort to get as much community input as possible, C-R is launching an online survey, possibly as early as Friday.
C-R in past years has held meetings around the district––“Community Conversations”––to gauge needs and desires from the public.
Those meetings will continue, but in order to cast a broader net, the district turned to a survey.
Tough economic times drove the decision for a survey, Superintendent Lynn Macan said.
In the past, the school board “trimmed around the edges” to keep programs intact and costs in line.
“Now there’s nothing around the edges,” Ms. Macan said. “The board represents the community, and we want decisions that mirror the community’s priorities.”
C-R held 12 Community Conversations last year. About 150 residents turned out, and some of those went to several meetings, Ms. Macan said.
She wants to at least double that number with the online survey.
“We’re adding another dimension to make it more convenient for people,” Ms. Macan said. “We want to double if not triple the number of voices.
“The board needs to exhaust every opportunity to get perspective as they build the budget.”
The survey requests no names but asks respondents whether they’re community members, parents or employed by the school.
Four parts follow:
•The first asks for a ranking from very important to unimportant for about 30 topics, such as class size, number of administrators, advanced courses, electives, music courses and more.
•The second section asks respondents about maintaining current levels of such programs as sports, intramurals, clubs, summer school, maintenance, technology, field trips, training and taxes.
•The third section, titled “Difficult Choices,” pits one item against another and asks respondents to pick which is most important. For instance, college-credit courses or high school class sizes larger?
•The fourth part asks for any other thoughts or suggestions about what should or shouldn’t be in the budget.
“These are some of the choices we may be facing,” Ms. Macan said. “We truly want the community to respond.”
The survey will be online for about two weeks, she said. The 12 Community Conversations will begin in late January and will probably relate to the survey results.
When the results are tabulated, they’ll be on C-R’s web site.
Ms. Macan hoped the survey would be online on Friday. If not, it should be up on Tuesday, after Monday’s school board meeting.
The survey is on the web site, www.crcs.k12.ny.us.