Not a Facebook issue

In the spirit of the popular year in review reports and Top 10 stories of the year polls, which are both included in this week’s ANR, Husky Nation has been advised of pending developments that are sure to make both when the ball drops on a year that is just now beginning.
You don’t need a crystal ball to know that significant changes could be coming to Aurora Public Schools in the months and years ahead based on decisions made in 2025. It’s not a secret that patrons will be asked to weigh in on a bond issue of some kind very soon, perhaps a sizable one. If you weren’t aware of that fact, it’s time to engage in what has been a deliberate, detailed, transparent process from Day 1.
Hard questions about facility status and needs, academic and extracurricular programming, as well as budget and district spending have been hot topics of conversation amongst the school board and community for two years now. Those questions were first raised in a series of community input sessions in 2022, which invited parents, teachers, business leaders and anyone interested in participating to weigh in. Many did just that.
To his credit, Supt. Jody Phillips shared that he and his staff did not have a clear long-term plan on which to base decisions made during the COVID era, which prompted the launch of a strategic planning process. The results of that process are pending now, with a final proposal expected as soon as early summer. 
Added recently to this conversation is a proposal to expand the district’s preschool offerings, which would require moving fifth graders to the middle school, creating a grade 5-8 middle school configuration. In order to make all the pieces fit in that new puzzle, Phillips and the administrative team are also proposing a longer school day in what is described as a cost-neutral move. Those changes are reflected in a shell of a plan which could be decided at the Jan. 13 board meeting.
The emotional impact represented in some of these proposed changes was evident during two public meetings, each lasting nearly three hours. One final comment Phillips made during the community meeting Dec. 18 was that “This is not a Facebook issue,” and with that I could not agree more. 
The Q&A dialogue during both those meetings was valuable, as it helped patrons understand the proposal while also identifying details that need further evaluation. The conversation was serious, respectful, and based on specific facts, resulting in a healthy sense of shared priorities. Social media is simply not a format to host such a critical conversation.
In other words, major decisions which will impact education at all grade levels at APS are on the agenda, now! Listen in. Engage. Call school board members with questions or better yet, attend a board meeting in person.
It’s all but certain that the headline for one of the top stories of 2025 will include Aurora Public Schools. By engaging early, not just on election day, citizens can better help decide what that headline will say.
— Kurt Johnson