Below is an unsolicited guest post from honeymom on a great topic which was buried in the comments. We wanted to bring it forward to highlight it. You can see the original here. We will comment in the comments.
Here is a list of school board responsibilities according to the Arizona School Board Association. I am printing them to try to stimulate a more productive conversation with you.
Specific Duties
Specific duties of school boards may relate to employment, purchasing, budget preparation, students and policies. They may include:
- Hiring and evaluating the district superintendent.
- Providing guidance in the development of the budget to ensure funding needed to meet board established goals.
- Approving the budget.
- Monitoring the budget.
- Setting salaries for employees.
- Approving purchases.
- Establishing and approving policies.
- Approving curriculum materials.
- Adopting the school calendar.
- Reviewing regulations for compliance with policy.
- Approving personnel actions based on the superintendent's recommendation.
- Closing or constructing schools
- Assessing board effectiveness.
- Monitoring progress toward goals.
- Mandatory duties of school boards are defined in A.R.S. §15-341. Discretionary powers are defined in A.R.S. §15-342.)
What School Board Members and Boards DON'T Do
School board members DON'T:
- Implement policy; school boards make policy and superintendents carry it out.
- Manage the day-to-day operations of the school district; school boards see to it that the district is managed by professionals.
- Evaluate staff, other than the superintendent, nor do they become involved in employment interviews, other than those for superintendent.
Which duties do you think that our school board is not fulfilling on this list? Where do you see more latitude for the district boe?
I'm sorry that I do not have a sense of humor over this stuff, but belittling our school district is not productive. Also, what you see is horrible, is not horrible in many of our eyes. There is always room for growth/change in any school district and I think that our district needs to grow and change.
So I will try to corral you back to more productive matters. I have learned over the years that there is a place for policy and following policy. So let's start by addressing procedural matters with the boe. I have seen complaints on this site (I think some from you, but may have been from other posters) that the school boe is not discussing enough important (i.e. curriculum matters).
Other than the fact (and I still thank you for pointing this out) that there is too much infighting, too much needless policy discussion when policy is clear), I think that some of the areas that you want to see addressed are out of the boe jurisdiction. What is your take given the guidance that I have posted?
honeymom
Hiring and evaluating the district superintendent. No
ReplyDeleteProviding guidance in the development of the budget to ensure funding needed to meet board established goals. 5 hour last minute meetings hardly seem like guidance.
Approving the budget. Rubber stamp.
Monitoring the budget. No.
Setting salaries for employees. Unknow.n
Approving purchases. Unknown.
Establishing and approving policies. Yes.
Approving curriculum materials. Too little involvement.
Adopting the school calendar. What a joke this process has been.
Reviewing regulations for compliance with policy. Unknown.
Approving personnel actions based on the superintendent's recommendation. Rubber stamp
Closing or constructing schools. Way too much political involvement
Assessing board effectiveness. BAHHHH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Monitoring progress toward goals. BAHHHH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Who hired her? How is she evaluated? Wouldn't evaluation take place in executive (non-public) session?
ReplyDeleteI don't know what preparation went into those meetings if any. Until one of us is ready to step up to the boe plate, I think we should be considerate of the enormous amount of time boe members volunteer. I'm personally not prepared to cast any stones having spent plenty of hours unsung and unrecognized volunteering in various capacities over the years.
I think part of the approving the budget problem (i.e. rubber stamping) is inherent in the Arizona political process. Many other states, i.e. Connecticut, have towns that are part of the budget process. Boe's by nature try to approve what the schools need. In Connecticut, the boe budget then goes to town Board of Finance (Chop Chop) and onto the Board of Selectmen (kind of like the mayors and some more chop chop). I don't know how you get more oversight of boe without some more eyeballs.
Salaries - maybe another executive meeting topic?
Approving personnel actions - not sure they have the authority to question.
Closing or constructing schools - You say too much political involvement, but beyond getting parents to attend these meetings and know who they are voting for, how do you recommend stopping it?
Monitoring progress towards goals - wouldn't this also be an executive meeting function? Should the board be self assessing in public?
honeymom
btw, bahhhahahahahahah is not a term my generation uses. Yet another giveaway about your age.
ReplyDeletehoneymom
HM - they may not be your age but that again does not imply they are in HS. My sister is a 5 years younger than me and that generation DOES use that term. She is in her mid-30's.
ReplyDeleteConsidering they used your post, I would say they are grown adults. They are valid concerns.
I was just poking fun at them.
ReplyDeleteI know the term, too. because I watch Spongebob with my kids. Squidward uses it a lot. I just don't use it.
I appreciate their running my post.
honeymom
From what I has observed at these meetings as a parent (especially the budget meetings). The unfortunate thing is that CCUSD has a weak board president. Nice lady, but only follows administration. I see that the rest tend to vote their own ways. Now, you say that the board rubber stamped the budget? If that was the case, why did it take 11 hours to get to a consensus and the only one who didn't agree, was the Board President -that's what I read. Is it the board's job to assess curriculm or the administration? I think we are too focused upon pointing fingers rather than solving the problem. If you don't like the board, vote them out and get a new bunch...Some of them have been on the board a long time...so perhaps it's time for change? You have some good ideas, but presenting them in a positive manner who get you further.
ReplyDeleteI'm confused...who did hire/evaluate the superintendent? If I recall correctly it was a hiring committee that consisted of board members, parents and community members.
ReplyDeleteRubber stamp the budget...well, if the administration has done a good job developing the budget then why shouldn't they rubber stamp it?
The statement is "Approving" curriculum materials not researching, developing submitting...It is "approving."
I'm not going to go on...obviously I think CCUSDwatch is not right in a lot of statements.
I think the question is not what isn't hte BOE doing, it is what IS the BOE doing (or some members) that they should not be. That is micromanaging.
The board president was called "weak" by one poster, but I would argue she is strong. She had the courage to support the administration against other board members who micromanage, undermine and second guess. The administration's recommendations for the budget were good, took the best interest of the students to heart and would have been effective.
However, some board members chose to cowtow to a vocal minority of parents at the meeting stating they wanted to save their pet program. It was saved at the last minute by using rainy day funds.
It was also saved while teaching aides were cut. So while that pet program remained (for approximately 150 or so students in the district), 30 minutes of class time was taken away from the rest of the students in the schools. Then board members intimated that PTOs should pay for teacher's aides when they, themselves, were not willing to support them.
Oh! BTW, teacher's aides work lunches. This means teachers can take their 30 minute luch and be back in the classroom to teach after that. Now, with no aides, teachers must work lunch so they take turns eating and watching kids and now an additional 30 minutes is lost from class time.
Was this in the best interest of the marjority of students in the district -- especially when administrators (principals) had proposed a solution to save the pet program that had a lot of positive elements. The complaining parents didn't know the solution--hadn't heard it and the powers that be did not have the courage to tell them and to say it was in the best interest of the students in the district.
This is called micromanaging and undermining by the board. This is why several principals were not at the next board meeting. It is also why they walked out of the budget meeting together.
PTO's funding aides.
ReplyDeleteOur PTO is now funding an aide and I can't even begin to say how wrong this is for the following reasons:
1) Not clear that it is permissible in the bylaws although to be honest nobody pays any attention to them anyway. I'm a bit of a policy wonk and actually read them.
2) Many of the fundraisers were executed by a core group of 4 parents out of a school with about 500 parents. There is never a guarantee that there will be parents willing to hold the fundraisers necessary to cover the costs of the teachers aides as well as the other needs that PTO funds. We were pretty burnt out at times.
3) Start with teacher aide salaries and where do you draw the line on salaries? Do we eventually wind up a private school where we pay tuition to cover all the salaries? Remember this is public school and that it is fair and equitable for the community to pay it forward and take care of its kids, even if you are an empty nester.
You may wonder why then, I even voted to allow the funding. It was either that or not have sufficient staffing both at the kindergarten level and on the playground. Call it my deal with the devil, but it was important to take care of the kids even if the source of funding went against my best instincts.
honeymom