Friday, June 5, 2015

Bridgeport School Board Building & Grounds/ Finance Committee Meeting June 4th, 2015

I arrived several minutes late but I don't think I missed too much.  They were discussing the check register I believe when I first got there.
At 3:17 they discuss transitioning to the ISD Skyward online system in the future.
At 7:34 they discuss State Aid changes.
At 11:51 they discuss changes in Transparency Reporting.
At 13:41 they discuss Brunkow School.
At 20:54 they discuss Activity Money raised by each class.
At 31:00 they discuss the Athletic programs.
At 38:20 they discuss some various miscellaneous items.
At  42:10 they discuss Industrial Arts/ Wood Shop equipment and interest in classes.
At 44:45 they discuss vacation schedules and work week schedules.
At 49:50 they discuss the contract for Bridgeport Police Officer Green and some security changes.
At 53:19 they discuss a budget workshop and the next board meeting, budget approval.


This was the first Finance/Building & Grounds Committee that I have attended.  When you just attend the regular board meetings, you don't have the whole picture of the Who, How, When, Where & Why of the decision making process.  Seeing the committee meetings helps to understand that process.
Attending the meeting did make me feel a little old and reminiscent, took me back to my school days here in Bridgeport.  They are discussing selling off the equipment for the industrial arts and wood shop classes because the kids today are just not interested in those classes.  Back in the old days when I attended Junior High here the shop classes were very popular and usually full.  Shop class was for the boys and Home Economics or whatever they called that miserable class was for the girls.  I was a tomboy though so I loved the shop class.  I just stayed alone in the back corner and did my projects and ignored those ignorant little boys who laughed at me being in there, morons....  The home economics class was pure misery, I did try but I barely passed it.  I think they passed me out of pity, maybe they had never had a girl fail that class before.  I hate to see the industrial arts classes go but if the kids nowadays aren't interested I guess there is no point in keeping the equipment.
They have discussed the Brunkow School before in the board meetings and they discussed it in this committee meeting.  I understand any decision they may have to make on the future of the Brunkow School, even if they decide to demolish it.  I am just hoping that some kind of plan can be found to save the school.  There is more to the building than just the cost analysis, there is a history to it and all the children who have attended it over the years surely have fond memories of it.
I will share a little history of the man the school is named after, Charles F. Brunkow.  Charles was born in Saginaw in 1892, the son of German immigrants August Brunkow and Anna Wehner.  Charles was a industrious young man that cared about his community of Buena Vista, the children and especially education.  He was involved in real estate and the building trade in Buena Vista Township.  Charles passed away in 1980 in Buena Vista.  He and his wife Edith had no children, the Brunkow School is the legacy he left behind for the community he loved.  I am hoping that legacy can be saved and still serve the community and the children.

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