Board of Education Corner – February
Seated: Susanne Fitzgerald, Evamarie Mraz, Noelle Smrtic. Standing: President Chris Tallon, Vice President Kathy Zajicek, Joe LoDestro. Missing from photo: Beverly Alves, Ron Beck, Pat Oare.
GJSD Board of Education Corner
February 2020
Beginning this month, the Board of Education will be providing information to be posted to the district website, with the intention of keeping the members of our school community up to date regarding what we are working on. This is part of a new communications initiative implemented by the board and administration.
Since July, when new board members were inducted at the organizational meeting, this group has hit the ground running. It has been a very busy eight months and, so far, a very productive period. One of the main focus points has been working on communicating with all constituent groups associated with our district. In addition to our regular board meeting, we are also conducting a series of town hall type events called “The GJSD Board of Education Community Outreach and Listening Tour”.
The board’s first town hall forum took place in January, at the Johnstown Senior Center, with about 30 people in attendance. There was great feedback and many questions were put forth by the audience. A second event took place in February at 1 Church Street (the former YMCA). Our third forum is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on March 3 at the Johnstown Area Community Center. We hope that you will be able to join us.
We are also making appearances on local radio station WENT, and the Superintendent will be providing a monthly meeting summary to local newspapers, to provide a recap of what takes place at our meetings.
Our audit committee has looked at preliminary numbers for the upcoming budget, as well as long term projections. The committee will continue to meet and review data to be used in creating the budget for the 2020-2021 school year. This is something that community members said they would like to see, and we are following through on that suggestion.
That wraps it up for this month’s Board Corner. Please check back periodically for more updates to see what we, the GJSD Board of Education, are doing for you, our students and our community.
Chris Tallon
BOE President