I was unable to attend last week's Guilderland Board of Education's Jan. 25 special meeting and  presentation by Robert Hendriks of Educational Legacy Educational Legacy Planning Group, giving an overview of his proposal for strategic planning facilitation.  His facilitation services are being considered by the full board based on the recommendations of its Communications Committee.

It was reported to me by some Altamont residents who did attend the meeting that, although they found it to be a well presented PowerPoint presentation, Mr. Hendriks didn't seem to be able to elucidate underlying motivations behind the move for strategic planning in the district. Whatever it is, it would be helpful for the district to be clearer about what they are doing in this matter. It will be interesting to gauge the reaction of the board, and how strongly the administration pushes for his service, and clearly outlines how the public will be involved.    

After looking at his website, and websites of several school districts mentioned during the presentation, my guess is that the district may still be interested in reconfiguration or a substantial facilities project, or both. I hope my message here spurs others to delve further into the proposed initiative, and follow this story to keep informed.

I hope the discussion will be covered in the media widely since significant money is at stake, not to mention the potential future direction of our schools. When asked about the price tag for all this, Mr. Hendriks didn’t directly respond, but cited $40,000 as a starting number. It could be as much as $5,000 or $6,000 more for video presentations.

I did check out his full presentation on the district website and found it difficult to gain some basic understandings about it. I believe our residents in attendance did hear him mention several examples of strategies for dealing with decreasing enrollment and closing or repurposing buildings.

They also think they heard him state that community involvement in the strategic planning process must be “structured” and require RSVPs.  It's not clear whether that means participation would be open or by invitation only.  

One of the board members pointed out that the North Colonie voters defeated a bond issue that came about as a result of his work with that district that he seemed to defend. It would be good to assess if there's a pattern among the other districts he's worked with for closing schools.

Most importantly, it's unclear yet why the district or board of education would want to hire another “facilitator” in the first place, and at such a high cost. The online minutes of the Communication Committee that recommended him for consideration are sketchy — very little information there.

The district already has annual district priorities-setting meetings that involve all stakeholders. I wonder how Hendricks’s proposal is different from those sessions? Why the district cannot do this on its own without paying out high amounts of money when we hear of the fiscal burdens on the district because of the tax cap and other government efficiency initiatives is perplexing.

Why not use the professionals within the district to accomplish this task? Current administrators are excellent facilitators who could get the job done for less cost.

I think the board of education should clarify exactly what the goal is, and why a highly paid facilitator is the best way to go about achieving that goal. Regardless, district taxpayers should know and understand what's going on. There may be good reasons, but repeating the rationale often is not a bad thing, so one is not tempted to see this as an exercise to reach a predetermined goal.

When asked how his firm would guide the community involvement process, Hendriks indicated that he had never experienced a “lack of participation” before, but that he would start with the school board members and have them define what they want as a successful outcome.

As mentioned many times during the discussions about closing schools not too long ago, I agree it is appropriate to expect feedback and opinions from the administration and the board early in the process.  It may be the job of administrators to serve the vision of the board, but perhaps we can start a conversation with the district's experts, including its teachers, to articulate what they see as the best directions for our students over the next five years, before the district commits these funds?

It seems like a more logical starting point for discussion than what seems to be proposed.  Maybe this has happened internally already, but it would be good to know what feedback on the proposed process has occurred internally if it has before a commitment to spend funds is made.

Feel free to contact me, the staff, or the village trustees at (518) 861-6500, ext. 10 if you have questions or need information. Visit the village website, which includes the current and past village newsletters; Mayor's Notes; and important information about upcoming village activities and events, meetings, and general facts that may be of use to residents, as well as the schedule of Guilderland Public Access Channel 17 for viewing of the Altamont Village Board meetings.