Voters in Frontier should be able to decide

There are a number of keywords which will be referred to often in the next couple of months, both on school and village boards. These include “tax cap levy,” “state mandates,” “tax rate” and “cuts.” What this is talking about is budgets.

For village boards, this process will be wrapped up by April when the boards decide whether to approve the spending plans. In the case of school boards, the boards must adopt a plan to be placed before district voters in early April, so it appears on the budget and trustee vote Tuesday, May 17.

The district wide voting is also a time when it is common for referendums to be decided by voters in various districts. This often ranges from items such as purchasing buses to capital improvement projects.

In Frontier, the school board had an opportunity to allow voters to decide whether to allow a student representative – or ex-officio – to sit on the school board. What was proposed, if approved by voters, would have allowed a student to sit with the board as a non-voting member. It would have been for a two-year term which would end June 24, 2014.

In many ways, there is not a more thankless position than serving on a school board.

Each year they are faced with increased state mandates, reductions in state aid and the difficulty of figuring out how to maintain as many positions as possible, all while offering a quality education and keeping the tax rate reasonable.

The key phrase being quality education.

The boards are intact to make decisions which they feel would give students the best education.

With that said, in these difficult times, if representing students is what a school board does, then wouldn’t it make sense to allow someone representing them to sit with the board and offer viewpoints, from the inside?

It is the students who feel the impact, good or bad, every day. They are the ones who know what works and what does not.

The Frontier Central School Board had a chance to do what others, including Eden and Lake Shore have done, which is to give students a voice on the school board.

Each year, it seems area superintendents talk about how the current budget process is more difficult than the year before. There is nothing which suggests that trend is going to end anytime soon.

The Frontier School Board had the chance to get a student’s view. This chosen student would not vote, but could provide valuable insight to the board.

It was not a unanimous vote either as Board President Michael Comerford and Board Members Martin Lalka, Stanley Figiel, Janet Plarr and Nancy Wood, cast dissenting votes. Jack Chiappone, Larry Albert and Lynn Burke voted in favor of the proposal.

We hope the Frontier School Board will reconsider its decision and allow voters in the district to decide what is best. A student with a pulse on the district can provide information to the board which could be invaluable when it comes to difficult budget choices.

It would also allow a student to gain a great life education with budget processes and experience making difficult decisions.

In the coming weeks, school boards will be officially unveiling their proposed budgets for the 2012-13 school year. Another word, or variation of it, which will be heard is bleak. Due to the state’s fiscal crisis, boards are going to have to make hard choices which will ultimately have a negative impact on some people. It might mean higher taxes or cuts in jobs. In the end, not everybody will win, but a good education for students for the “best bang for the buck” is important.

There is no time like the present in which a student’s voice could provide more meaningful information to the board. We believe it is a mistake by the board to keep the voters from deciding May 17 about the ex-officio position. Frontier is the students’ school, not that of the board. In these difficult times, they should have, at least on some level, a voice.