I went to a school board meeting last night

[punkin]

It was the first time I went and I thought it was very interesting. But really, they did absolutely nothing. Almost the entire hour was used up in self congratulatory plaque awarding. Very strange. I wonder when the real work gets done.

 

[taximomfor4]

LOL> YOU should go to one in my dh's district. Bad politics, etc right now --- It is UGLY.

 

[Pigeon]

Ours just rubber stamps everything the district administration proposes. I've gone back through the minutes for the past ten years and no one has ever voted no on a single issue.

 

[kinntj]

We're voting on Nov 3rd on 4 spots on the school board. Our community is ticked off right now at those in charge. They are running for re-election, but I think it'll be close.

In the summer our Board decided to fire all 8 custodial employees and replace them with a private company. They had a special meeting to discuss this in June, but when the community went to plead their case that in the long run it doesn't save money, the board wouldn't hear of it. They ran the meeting like they already made the decision, even though they promised to hear people out. Our custodials that have been employed for many years were willing to negotiate lower wages and to pay more in insurance if that's what it took to save their jobs. What the community found out, is before that meeting, the board had already signed contracts with the private custodial company. What a kick in the gut to the custodians and the community.

The President of the board is the Principal for another districts elementary school. They just negotiated with their custodians for lower wages and they kept their jobs. hmmmm....
I know schools have to cut stuff out to the max to survive, but we didn't like the way they handled it. Someone even brough information on another school district who privatized work and ended up paying more in the long run.

Go figure. I have a feeling this will be an interesting election.

 

[laurie31]

It was the first time I went and I thought it was very interesting. But really, they did absolutely nothing. Almost the entire hour was used up in self congratulatory plaque awarding. Very strange. I wonder when the real work gets done.

In the classroom!

 

[punkin]

In the classroom!

Your teachers do district-wide administrative tasks in the classroom? Imagine that! When do they have time to teach? j/k, I know what you meant, but school boards are elected for a reason and they do have significant responsibilities and workload. When do they do it?

 

[laurie31]

Your teachers do district-wide administrative tasks in the classroom? Imagine that! When do they have time to teach? j/k, I know what you meant, but school boards are elected for a reason and they do have significant responsibilities and workload. When do they do it?

Yes, I knew what you meant too, I just couldn't resist taking the opening. Trying to maintain order in a room full of 25-30 children, many of whom would rather be ANYPLACE else, plus actually trying to get them to learn stuff, is way more challenging than sitting in a board meeting with other adults.

I personally don't think elected school boards are a good idea, as there is way too much politics and way too little getting done. Our school board is appointed, and they actually do get meaningful stuff done at their meetings. The meetings are open to the public, but if you want to speak, you must notify them ahead of time to be added to the evening's agenda. They do everything from approve field trips to making the school calendar. (That school calendar meeting can get pretty heated. Last year, they moved Spring break so it was just 5 weeks before school was out. I can tell you, there was almost no point to going back at that point. Due to public outcry, they moved it back to March this year, where it belongs. )

 

[dawson5]

We're voting on Nov 3rd on 4 spots on the school board. Our community is ticked off right now at those in charge. They are running for re-election, but I think it'll be close.

In the summer our Board decided to fire all 8 custodial employees and replace them with a private company. They had a special meeting to discuss this in June, but when the community went to plead their case that in the long run it doesn't save money, the board wouldn't hear of it. They ran the meeting like they already made the decision, even though they promised to hear people out. Our custodials that have been employed for many years were willing to negotiate lower wages and to pay more in insurance if that's what it took to save their jobs. What the community found out, is before that meeting, the board had already signed contracts with the private custodial company. What a kick in the gut to the custodians and the community.

The President of the board is the Principal for another districts elementary school. They just negotiated with their custodians for lower wages and they kept their jobs. hmmmm....
I know schools have to cut stuff out to the max to survive, but we didn't like the way they handled it. Someone even brough information on another school district who privatized work and ended up paying more in the long run.

Go figure. I have a feeling this will be an interesting election.

we had something similar happen last year, the school board hired a new superintendent and then would not let him do his job basically. They fired him after two years, the teachers and parents were behind him, said give him chance to do his job. Because they fired him before the contract was up, they owed him severance pay, costing the school district, which is in trouble anyways. So they voted out 4 and I think the next election will get the rest. I believe there is a grassroots movement to make sure these people are ousted. It definitely showed in the voting results.

On the other hand, my brother in law is on the school board in our hometown. They do try to get things done, but his agenda was to buck the "good ole boy" system in the town. They have had a history of hiring "friends" of school board members. So far, since he has been on the board, they have thwarted one attempt to hire either a superintendent or a principal for the high school, can't remember. (I guess there are other like-minded individuals on the board. It's a small town, small town politics, etc.)

 

[kinntj]

we had something similar happen last year, the school board hired a new superintendent and then would not let him do his job basically.
On the other hand, my brother in law is on the school board in our hometown. They do try to get things done, but his agenda was to buck the "good ole boy" system in the town. They have had a history of hiring "friends" of school board members. So far, since he has been on the board, they have thwarted one attempt to hire either a superintendent or a principal for the high school, can't remember. (I guess there are other like-minded individuals on the board. It's a small town, small town politics, etc.)

Small towns can be tricky. It's completely opposite here. The Superintendant feels she owns the place. The board pretty much answers to her.

 

[dawson5]

I think that is why they made sure they found someone who was not affiliated in any way with the board. They actually didn't even consider a very qualified individual because of her connections with a board member.

 

[Katy Belle]

DH is the Chairman of the Board of our school board and has been a member for a couple of years. The work is done at home on the laptop, phone, etc. In committee meetings on evening and weekends. Plus, they have an official Board Meeting once a month from 3-7. Parents are allowed in from 5-7. Its a huge volunteer job that takes a bunch of time and is a huge responsibility. They are currently hiring a new director. It is a ton of work and its all volunteers doing it. It has been very interesting learning about it all. Also, he always makes a big deal out of the fact that the Board can't run the school, they hire a director to do that...he is the expert. Board members can't make curriculum decisions, they hire curriculum experts to do that.

Ours is a private school and some of the members are appointed and others are elected.

 

[allison443]

Our school board meetings are on tv...the local community access channel on cable.
However, there is a public part of the meeting, like what you went to, and then a closed session where they discuss matters that do not have to be discussed in public. I believe those are personnel matters, and some other things. So going to a public meeting wouldn't show you everything they do.

 

[EthansMom]

Our town has been in litigation with our school board (shared with two other towns) off and on for years. Basically one larger town that is trying to shove things down the throats of two smaller towns.