Announcement re Board Meetings

In keeping with this previous post, please be aware that as of now, the June 27 board meeting is likely to be canceled for lack of a quorum - four of us are unavailable to meet that day. Hopefully this will be announced  later via the automated School Messenger system, like PTA meetings are, making posts like this unnecessary.

Let's take this opportunity to point out another recent development regarding our board meetings. As I'm sure you know by now, the May 30 meeting was quite momentous - the board appointed a new superintendent as of July 1, the culmination of a long process with interesting twists and turns, but fortunately with an outstanding outcome. We can all look forward to an exciting future for Wharton Schools.

Another development was perhaps less noticed and, in fact, could easily have escaped notice altogether. Some of this board's most interesting approvals have always been found on the Addendum available to the public as you walk in the meeting. Unlike the regular agenda which board members receive (with attachments) days in advance, everyone sees the Addendum for the first time when you come to the meeting. It's intended to include housekeeping-type matters that were not available for inclusion on the initial agenda, which is sufficient explanation for most trusting souls.

Anyway, the development on this addendum was simply . . . .

WHEREAS, the Board of Education approves the establishment of a Committee as a Whole Board where as the Board of Education will meet twice per month in which the first Board meeting shall be a Work Session and the second Board Meeting shall be a Business Action Meeting.

This simple motion accompanied a few others on the Addendum that were much more significant, establishing a new configuration for the administration of the schools. But these came as no surprise to board members who had participated in those discussions. What this resolution does is essentially end committees - Operations, Finance, Personnel, Curriculum, etc. - except for special purposes. Instead, matters that would have been discussed in committee will now be entertained by the full board in the first meeting of the month.

This should be - if run properly - a "win" for board transparency and public deliberation. In the past, our committees met outside of public view - totally legal and, in some ways practical. What was then supposed to happen but had not been (until recently) was that each committee would report publicly and in writing to the full board when the committee met: who was present, what was discussed, and any recommendations for board action. So, committee meeting reports would at least be public, explaining the reasoning for subsequent full-board action.

Apparently when confronted with the public reporting requirement for committee meetings, some board members preferred not to go through all that (one member mumbled in public he didn't want to have to write "detailed reports," as required by board by-laws).

So, in conclusion, the good news is:

• You, the public, will now see all board deliberations occur in public. You will even be able to more readily tell which board members participate in, and come prepared for, meetings.
• For board members, no more inconvenient committee meetings, or reports to make in public.

Oh, and the ultimate irony? Somehow somewhere some board members got together and decided this new meeting format was preferred to the old one. But that conversation did not take place with the full board - in fact except for one observant board member it almost got approved with no one noticing! The irony is that, unlike this simple change, never again will this board propose action that was not previously discussed in full public view! 

Now which board member do you think will personally see to that?