Thread by @socialistdogmom

8:30am on a saturday is the perfect time to watch a powerpoint about the school board budget

good morning, it’s powerpoint time

at the HAC meeting the other night there was a lot of talk about how building more housing would stress infrastructure. the school system is keeping an eye on growth & projecting how that will affect enrollmeOgic

the district anticipates health insurance costs will increase 8% this year, which they say is a lot better than the double digit increases many districts are dealing with. (wow maybe we should do something about the cost of healthcare in this country)

last year they dipped into other funds to avoid passing in the cost of rising health insurance to employees. they’re saying they can’t keep doing that indefinitely.

superintendent dr atkins says the entire board holds this item “near and dear to our hearts” - a proposal to move custodians, instructional assistants, and nutritional staff closer to a living wage.

we spent like 45 minutes on one slide and i spaced out a little bit but based on coverage from @joshuamandell and @Knott_Katherine, i did not miss much.
(charlottesville may be the most livetweeted city government in existence)

there is a lot of anxiety about maintaining increments in pay when we talk about raising minimum/starting salaries to be close to liveable. it’s interesting we’re so committed to what’s “fair” in certain contexts. would it not be most fair for everyone to be able to live?

i am sitting next to the breakfast spread at this meeting & am acutely reminded that one of the few things celiac disease truly stole from me is the simple pleasure of a mediocre cinnamon bun. i miss them profoundly, despite them never having actually been good.

the conversation has gotten a bit sidetracked & we’re talking about student mental health services. dr atkins cautions about using the term “mental health,” as they are not clinicians & school counselors are not therapeutic counselors.

it seems to be primarily an issue of liability, but the term they’re stressing instead of “mental health” is “social-emotional responsiveness” and dr atkins emphasizes the goal of these efforts is to ensure students are responsive to the curriculum.

now onto a discussion of a replacement for amy laufer, who recently resigned from the city school board after moving out of the city into the county

cvilletomorrow.org/articles/laufe…

mckeever says they should appoint a replacement for the remainder of amy’s term (through the end of this year) who is NOT seeking election themselves. the board agrees.

the next meeting is already on my calendar - wednesday at 6 @ CATEC. it’s a joint session with city council. sad to see it in conflict with the CRB meeting, which i’ll have to miss.