The thought processes of school boards ….
January 9th, 2009 by marietta nelsonWarning: constant() [function.constant]: Couldn't find constant TT_TH8US_LEN in /home/psblogs/public_html/wp-content/plugins/tweet-this/tweet-this.php on line 1821
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There is something about school boards (and other public bodies) that has always puzzled me.
Often as a reporter I attend a public meeting when something important to the community is under discussion. On Thursday night in Poulsbo I went to cover discussions about renovations in the pool buildings, along with yet another rehashing of lights for Kingston High School athletic fields and cosmetic changes at NK stadium to include KHS logos.
There were maybe 20 members of the public at the 7 pm meeting, most of them there to hear the KHS lights and stadium issue. The pool issue happened quite quickly. A presentation, discussion and a vote was completed by about 7:45 pm.
Next up was the presentation of “policy governance” by Connie Fletcher, a member of the Issaquah School Board. Policy governance is a way of operating a school board. It’s hard to explain here, but suffice to say Fletcher’s discussion was very wonky. That’s not taking anything away from what she had to say. In fact, I thought it was quite interesting.
Except that it went on for more than an hour.
At 8:50 pm a man sitting behind me began to get restless and muttered something like “they’ve been on one issue for an hour and five minutes.” He said it loud enough for everyone to hear. And thank goodness he did because it seemed to me that board members would have gone on visiting with Fletcher about policy longer! As I looked around the room I saw community members who looked tired, annoyed, frustrated and irritated.
So I am puzzled. Why would the board put this policy discussion before the issue that most of the people in the audience had come to discuss? Why would the board make these people – most of whom sat and stewed with frustration - wait?
North Kitsap School Board is certainly not the only public body I’ve observed doing something like this. I’ve sat next to fuming community members at interminably long meetings for years. But it’s always puzzled me why these community leaders would create more animosity by making people sit and wait to be heard. Dealing at the beginnng of the meeting with those critical issues that people have come to discuss would be a simple way to promote good feelings among community members.
Wait … I know what you’re thinking: At least we’re not in Bremerton.
Tags: School Board Procedures
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
January 10th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Yours is a great question.
Elected boards regularly have subjects for which the public is invited and encouraged to participate in the process. Boards value public input more than people realize. In fact, as an elected board member, my biggest disappointment is that we don’t get enough public participation. Though I balance that with the fact that our citizens elect us to attend and act in these meetings for them. So, the public may feel there is little need to attend unless the board isn’t doing what the public expects them to do. Thus, you see a lot of people at board meetings when the board is making unpopular decisions but few at meetings where we engage in “routine” business.
Now, that being said, board meetings are meetings of the school board held in public (as it should be). But they are not public meetings held in front of the board. The difference is that the agenda serves the business needs of the school district and the informational needs of the board. While it is a great opportunity for the public to learn about school district issues, the meeting is not established for that. The primary purpose is for the board to meet, consider the items on the agenda, and proceed as they deem most valuable to the district. Sometimes this involves long drawn-out conversations as we mull options, consider varying points of view of board members, exchange ideas, and come to consensus on how to proceed forward in the best interest of the school district’s priorities (student achievement and economic efficiency usually being amongst the top priorities).
The board doesn’t have the luxury of having these conversations at other times. That would violate the open public meetings act and the public should be able to observe the process by which elected officials come to consensus and decision.
All that being said, a board should be respectful of the public and organize our agendas so that folks that want to be heard and also get home at a decent hour can do so. Most of the time I know South Kitsap tries to be mindful of that. Sometimes it doesn’t work out as well as we would like and sometimes, frankly, we are human and make mistakes.
Regards,
Kathryn Simpson
South Kitsap School Board Member