Thoughts about school committees November 14th 2011

We seem to do things the same way not because it is the right way it's just the way we are used to. We need to find the best way to accomplish our goals, by stepping out of our comfort zone and get more input from others in our community. After failing to pass two levies, it is obvious to me we need to do things different. We need to build trust with the patrons and truly listen to their ideas, and one way we can accomplish this is by changing how we use our committees.
We need to define the general purpose of committees.
If the purpose is for the administration to hand out information to committee members only, what benefit is there in having them? If that is their only real purpose then why not just hand out the same information at school board meetings? There has been complaints about how poorly attended these meetings are. Without being able to provide constructive ideas and feedback to the administration, it is very understandable why so few attend. Whatever committee it is, I believe smart, interested patrons could be recruited to contribute. 
If committees are to succeed and have a valuable purpose, I believe there needs to be major changes to them. 
My recommendations are:
1. Change the name. Instead of the SUPERINTENDENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE change it to the SCHOOL BOARD ADVISORY COMMITTEE. The board is ultimately responsible for what is accomplished in each of these committees, we should have their recommendations come back to us. A big part of the committee discussion comes back to the district budget or student achievement, which is the responsibility of the school board.
2. I believe the board member representative should head the committee not just be a participant. The board member working with the administrator over each committee should discuss the agenda before the meeting is held, so the board member can have input into the agenda and be informed about the topics to better lead the discussion. 
3. The committees should become a true advisory committee, holding regular meetings, and be able to discuss and make decisions. Whatever decision they make then gets presented back to the full board for final approval or disapproval.  I have served on two of the committees, the technology and budget committee which in the past have rarely met. I am not fully aware of the exact purpose of the other committees because I have never heard a report to the board as to what, if anything, they have done. I can assume for example, that the curriculum committee has been given information as to how the district is doing maintaining up to date text books. If it is not already being done, and I doubt it is, why  not have the committee help prioritize the replacement of old text books? In some cases, because of lack of funding, the committee could look into ways to raise funds to replace text books. I think the committee should have an understanding of how bad these needs really are. I know we are behind in replacing text books, but what impact is it having on the students education? I would like information like this presented back to us.
Having the committees more involved will better explain to the patrons our needs in each area. They can help come up with ways to save money in some areas or raise funds in others. Doing this may delay the time before we need to try again for another levy. When that time does come, we can better show what we have done, and better explain why we need more funds. The patrons serving on these committees can explain to others the ideas they have brought to the board, how they were implemented, and what the results were. If patrons know we are involving committees in helping us find solutions, rather than ignoring the real potential benefit the smart minds out there can bring to us, the more likely we will be able to pass a levy.     
For those who read my last blog know I was disappointed we couldn't empower a committee to review field trips. If field trips are paid for mostly through donations and not directly from school funds, I think it would have been appropriate to have a committee of parents, teachers, and the PTO (who actually raised most of the money) help decide how best to fund field trips, and if or how they should be changed. Perhaps a committee could survey the parents to see the level of support there is to maintain field trips and what they might be willing to contribute to have their children be able to go on them, instead of just dropping them without even telling them. I do believe there will be field trips this year but I am unsure how it will be handled.
I guess my summary is this: I have a strong belief we need to change the committee structure, and trust the community to help provide us with answers to the challenges we face. I think the more we involve the community the better off we are. I know the board has to be responsible for the final decisions and may not always agree with what comes out of the committees, but more input, I think, would be a very positive thing.
One point I also made in my last blog, I don't have much support to change things the way I have stated. I tried to involve a committee to help with field trips, and that idea went nowhere. If you think the board should make these kinds of changes you need to encourage your board member to support these ideas. I am not trying to say I have all the answers, and maybe some of my ideas aren't the right ones, all I know for sure is there needs to be a change, and I need your help. Thank you, and as always if you have questions or comments let me know. Brian