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Public commenter urges trustees to invest unassigned funds in 'academic infrastructure' rather than athletic facilities
Summary
Ewan Blackman praised improved unassigned fund balances and financial stewardship but urged the board to shift spending from athletic facilities to academic infrastructure such as a planetarium, an enterprise city and an outdoor environmental center; he also proposed trustee evaluation steps ahead of an upcoming election.
Public commenter Ewan Blackman used the board’s public comment time to praise recent fiscal performance but pressed trustees to reprioritize capital and program investments toward academic infrastructure.
"When I see things like the unassigned school fund is up, that's a good thing," Blackman said, adding that despite financial strength the district has deferred academic infrastructure: "we spend money on indoor football fields, and at the same time, we held back on what I like to call academic infrastructure like the planetarium or the enterprise city or perhaps the outdoor environmental center." He said those items should return to the board agenda for future discussion.
Blackman also suggested the board develop or revise evaluation tools for trustees and teachers ahead of May elections and said he planned to present proposals in the coming months. Trustees thanked him for speaking and the board proceeded to the next public commenter.
The remarks were delivered during the public comment period and did not elicit a formal board response or immediate action during the meeting.
