Time for public input is not after decisions are madeA few things came to mind as I covered Thursday’s School Board meeting (see the front page story).On one hand, I’ve always admired a dedicated group of individuals who care enough about a public issue to be heard at a public meeting.The parents who addressed the board last week were thoughtful, articulate and, above all, passionate.On the other hand, I couldn’t help but wish we’d heard this dialogue at any of the dozen or more previous School Board meetings where all-day kindergarten was on the chopping block.Arriving at the decision to cut all day kindergarten was a painful process for board members.I know, because I was at those meetings where they were hacking away at middle school and high school programs in order to save other items they felt were priorities – including all day kindergarten.And I was practically alone in the audience.There was very little passionate public input at this stage of the process.I wrote stories about the discussion and the possibility of cutting the program, but I know not everyone reads my stories. … And not everyone reads the School Board minutes in the legal notices. … And not everyone listens to local news on the radio.But maybe they should. Because then they would know the cut wasn’t a rash decision. And they’d know the office remodeling project has nothing to do with depriving the kindergarten program of money.Or at least they wouldn’t be critical of their elected officials for not making them aware of the issue before voting on it.I cringed every time I heard someone say the parents should have been given notice, or there should have been a public meeting.There have been public meetings; they’re called School Board meetings, and they’ve been twice a month on Thursdays for as long as I can remember.There’s a time for public process and feedback, and after decisions are made is not the time.Considering where state funding for education is headed, all parents would do well to start paying attention now. That way, positive input can be considered before the hard work is done.