Conneaut Valley parents and community members came together August 5 for an informational session with the designated sub-committee members for the Better Utilization of School Space (B.U.S.S.) initiative for Conneaut School District. Over the next month representatives from each attendance area are studying four areas of concern: facilities, curriculum, transportation and budget. The community is invited to attend all meetings for input and accurate information gathering. If you would like to attend and are looking for meeting times and locations, go to the Conneaut School District website at HYPERLINK "http://www.conneautsd.org" www.conneautsd.org for B.U.S.S. meeting times. It is important to talk about this school district initiative without inaccurate speculation and looking to the past with regret. If you possess important information needed by the committee members and would like to present it, the representatives are available to hear from their community.

The meeting on August 5 not only reported some of the researched results, it encouraged an open forum for concerns, questions, information and encouragement for involvement and attendance at the upcoming School Board meetings. The next meeting scheduled is a public work session on September 7 at 7:30 PM at the Conneaut Lake High School Cafeteria. The Conneaut Lake community has created a strong support initiative for their schools. Showing the Valley’s concern and support for their schools by attending these meetings is imperative. Our three representatives – Carol Bocan, Lorri Drumm, and Gina McCauley came to the community meeting to bring additional information and answer questions. Dr. Walter Thomas was available at the meeting from the Conneaut Lake attendance area. Facts and accurate figures are available for the public and it is important to utilize accuracy in evaluating the next steps in the B.U.S.S. initiative. As you are aware in your own personal financial picture, speculative information does not provide good judgment in decision making.

Real estate values, curriculum challenges, transportation costs, debt amounts, and budget are only part of the challenges educational decision makers are considering. One of the facts presented at this past week’s meeting was an awareness of the “no child left behind” initiative coming up for lawmakers’ evaluation and vote in the near future. If you want to make an impact on this vote, contact the appropriate representative and make your views known as a responsible voter. There is nothing more encouraging to me than knowing I represent a community that cares; but the reverse is also true, there is nothing as discouraging as thinking I am the lone cheerleader for a team that has disintegrated into a group of disrespectful, disinterested couch potatoes! Do you agree, we all love our schools, we appreciate education’s intrinsic value and educators who care, and closing schools is not a first choice for students, educators and community members? So let’s come together, get involved in the solution process and create a feasible resolution to benefit all.