BOE Meeting, Jan. 7th, 2008

Both Comm. Wogahn and Comm Bollinger were absent for this meeting. I think a future topic for the blog will be attendance by BOE Members to Board meetings as well as their record for attending their committee meetings. I have heard some anecdotal information about a couple of board members who are essentially AWOL for their committee work. But I want to get the record straight. I think that at the most basic level, attendance is something we can expect of elected officials. Maybe the Truancy policies that are enforced in the high schools could be used to motivate them!

Dr. Leary gave an update on the Superintendent search which was that by Dec. 21st 6 people had passed Stage 1 and 2 people had submitted credentials for Stage 2. He said this was not unusual and normally there is a lot of activity on the last couple of days. Final days for candidates to submit their application materials are Jan. 18th.

Misc. other announcements about a NCLB Forum at Delong MS and that the BOE members will be going to Milwaukee later in January for the WASB convention.

In the Public Comment time I reprised my role of St. John the Baptist crying in the wilderness for the urgency of Comprehensive Planning. I did thank the BOE for the LRSC (Little Red Study Committee) process which was open to all and made input from the public easy but I still believe that it was done in a vacuum. My comments were that any other $115 million corporation experiencing cutbacks similar to those at the ECASD would not take 3 full years or business cycles to complete a comprehensive analysis of their operation and yet that is what the school district is doing. They were all hanging on every word and nodding their heads in agreement and scribbling notes to follow up on as soon as possible. NOT!!

The new guidelines for Public Input were approved. I think it allows for community members to sign up 5 minutes in advance of the meeting, speak for up to 5 minutes, not repeat what already has been said and then, maybe ask questions or give additional input after presentations. But there was NO copy of the policy available for those attending the meeting and my steno skills are lacking so I am guessing as to the details.

Then the Principal from Meadowview came up with 3 students who gave a little presentation about raising money to buy books for disadvantaged children (is that the proper nomenclature ?) The students did a great job and were thanked by the board.

Pres. O'Brien then thanked all of the members of the LRSC who had done such great work. Tentative recommendations were in the Leader Telegram and the final meeting of the group is Jan. 15th and then it will be presented to the BOE on Jan. 21st. Included in the recommendations are: 1. ANOTHER recommendation for Comprehensive Community Planning, 2.) an ongoing committee for boundaries review, and 3. a committee to review budget options and referendum possibilities.

It was announced that Dr. Klaus will be appointed to serve as the MS representative on the McKinley Board.

Dr. Leary gave an update on the Community Survey process which has 2 different organizations in the mix for providing the service. (Please go to the Label Comprehensive Community Planning on the left hand side of the blog and you will see my comments about the presentations that these firms made back in JUNE!!!) Pres. O'Brien indicated the Comm. Wogahn is soliciting money from the community to cover the costs of this survey. Comm. Cummins indicated that WEAC also provides this kind of service and JoEllen Burke was invited to make a few comments. She felt it would be at a much lower cost and a WIN-WIN situation for the district to do this kind of collaboration. Comm. Kneer likes the firm that uses voter registration files for the survey. Comm. Craig reminded the BOE that the Comp. Community Planning process was approved by the BOE LAST SPRING (March 2007) and was supposed to begin in Sept. 2007 so this process should be put on the "fast track" to approximate the time we will have a new superintendent and board members. Comm. Faanes again asked "What is our mission for the survey? To ask questions about budget cuts or a referendum?" He stressed the need to give them clear instructions about our needs. Comm. Kneer agreed saying "or we will just look like we are floundering around."

Dr. Leary indicated that there could be a short discussion on Jan. 21st when one of the consultants could answer a few questions. Comm. Craig reminded everyone that last Spring's motion binds them to not go forward without community input. Comm. Cummins questioned the timing of discuss a survey on the 21st and then acting on Little Red before the survey is done. Pres. O'Brien indicated that the BOE has already had many meetings and they are NOT making decisions in a vacuum (I beg to disagree) and there is no need for an RFP because they already saw the presentation.

Comm. Faanes AGAIN reiterated that the goals and parameters for the process must be set by ECASD before choosing firms. Comm. Cummins said that the previous presentations were so broad and unfocussed that it is difficult to know what they really are offering. (I totally agree. The presentations were generic marketing presentations because the ECASD had done NO work at all to define what they were asking.) Comm. Kneer suggested going with the least expensive firm. Dr. Leary said he would follow up with both firms and WEAC and bring it to the next meeting.

Comm. Wogahn arrives.

The update on BoardDocs was that Bob Scidmore says he can replicate 15 to 20 items in the ECASD website without spending more money to buy the software. The information will be presented at the Feb. 5th BOE meeting. Comm. Kneer: "I would like to hear Bob. I have not been in favor of BoardDocs if we can do it in-house."
Comm. Faanes suggested doing a cost-benefit analysis to see if there would be overall savings. Comm. Craig thanked the ECASD staff for all their help in posting the information for the LRSC on the website. Comm. Cummins indicated that it would be important to n=know how much time and money it cost to do that in house.

Legislative report from Pres. O'Brien about the WASB recommendations, and that the Bush Administration eliminated Medicaid funding of SCHIP extension. His question: "Do we really still have 3 branches of government?" I like that!

The update about the Clear Vision Community Planning was given by Anna, one of the students, who said that there was no ECASD representation at the Education group (I think it was the same night as the LR Public Input(?))

Some discussion about the process on Jan. 28th or 29th when the board will review candidate applications and choose the top 6 for interviews.

Comm. Wogahn updated his information about soliciting funds for the Community Survey which was not definitive in terms of dollars pledged or received.

Comm. Cummins indicated that she would like to see High School Reform on an agenda in the future.

Adjourn!