Input Requested: Short and Long Term Facilities Planning at HCS, A Public Comment Period

Good Afternoon,

As you may be aware, HCS hosted a Public Hearing before the Board of Education last night. At this meeting, we welcomed Joe Kosiorek from SWBR Consulting to present an initial proposal surrounding short and long term facilities planning for the district.  Mr. Kosiorek's presentation lasted just over forty minutes, followed by a twenty minute period of Q&A.

As I shared during the meeting, last night's Public Hearing reflects an “Introduction to the Conversation” for the district surrounding short and long term facilities planning.  When I joined the dynamic HCS faculty and staff in January of 2019, I had the opportunity to meet with both internal and external stakeholders as a facet of my Entry Plan. Common themes which emerged specific to facilities included space utilization (paired with declining enrollments) and a desire for enhanced instructional spaces.  This qualitative data obtained from the HCS learning community, coupled with a review of “deficiencies” noted in our 2015 Building Condition Survey, prompted the launch of our work surrounding short and long term facilities planning.  

Side Note: State law requires completion of building condition surveys (BCS) and annual visual inspections (AVI) for all school districts on a rotating schedule by year.  The BCS is comprehensive in nature and assesses overall condition within every domain of facilities (electrical, plumbing, roofing, lighting, entryways, etc).  

The district's initial point of contact with SWBR was in November 2020.  SWBR presented to the Board of Education in Spring of 2021 and ultimately the district moved forward with a plan and budget for consulting with SWBR this school year. SWBR has been onsite at the POUND on numerous occasions and facilitated focus group discussions with instructional staff members back in July 2021. Their work encompasses an Educational Space Evaluation, a Space Utilization Assessment, an Undersized Room Assessment, a five year capital work plan and recommendations for Potential Space Reallocation and Supporting Financial Modeling.  All of this information is captured in the HCSD Districtwide Long-Range Master Plan (November 2021), which is now available for review and comment by our community. As interested, copies of this document are currently available for your perusal at the Honeoye Public Library during regular hours and at HCS District Office by appointment via Jennifer Green (229-4125 or [email protected]).

The Public Comment period surrounding short and long term facilities planning started last night (11/17) and will last for 30 days.  Please feel free to share your ideas via this Google Form link or during public expression at the Board of Education meeting scheduled for 6:30 in the Secondary Library on December 15.

As we future ahead, the HCS Board of Education and district leadership will also be reviewing this plan and providing insight and input. The district will be partnering with Edutech (BOCES) to ensure that any planning for our future includes consideration of adequate infrastructure and technological capacity for teaching and learning. The district must still engage in prioritization of noted deficiency areas as well as goal areas.  The district must consider development of a capital reserve and plan ahead for potentially one to three capital project(s).  In short, and as I led with, this communication reflects merely an “Introduction to the Conversation” for the district surrounding long and short term facilities planning.  Thank you in advance for your contribution(s) to this dialogue.

On behalf of the Honeoye Central School District, thank you for your ongoing support and partnership in advocacy for all HCS students. There is no place like Honeoye...  As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns about the information included in this communication, or otherwise.

Warmest regards,
E. Bridget Ashton

Elizabeth Bridget Ashton
Superintendent, Honeoye Central School District
8528 Main Street
Honeoye, New York 14471
[email protected]
On Twitter: @EBridgetAshton