Posted 1/19/12

1. We do not have teacher representation on the board.

   Posted 1/20/12

2. We do not have teach representation on the board. They are always welcomed to come to meetings and are encouraged to do so but they do not unless they are presenting to the board.

   Posted 1/20/12

3. Some towns have them and (even Student members!), and if the non-voting member brings useful information and perspective to the Board, it can be an effective experience for all. Where the non-voting student or educator is a mere figurehead, the effect may be seen as gimmickry and becomes an object of ridicule, something Boards simply don't need...

   Posted 1/20/12

4. We do not have a non voting teacher representative.

   Posted 1/20/12

5. We do not have non voting teachers on the board but we do have 2 students (selected as a junior and serving two years).

   Posted 1/20/12

6. Not in our district.

   Posted 1/20/12

7. Our school does not have a teacher rep.

   Posted 1/19/12

8. The only actual members on our Board are voting members. Our city has 9 members elected by the community. With that said, we do have the Superintendent and the Principals that attend every meeting, and other subject matter experts that come speak to the Board on issues as needed, but they do not have a vote. Additionally, members of the community are encouraged to attend meetings (as they are public meetings) to voice their opinions and ideas, but do not vote.

   Posted 1/19/12

9. We do not, but recently we have one teacher who is working on his admin. lic. attending our meetings. I think it is a good thing.

   Posted 1/19/12

10. We do not have teachers as non-voting board members. and the board meetings are open to the public including teachers and the board meets with teachers twice a year.

    Posted 1/19/12

11. We do not have teacher representation on our board – we do have 2 student members who do not vote.

    Posted 1/19/12

12. We do not but both our Vice Principal and Principal attend Board meetings. We would be very open to teacher representation as a board, and of course all meetings are open to the public so anyone who would like to can attend.

    Posted 1/19/12

13. We do not have teacher representation on the Board...voting or otherwise. The Principal is one conduit between the staff and Board. We are ALWAYS open to any staff member who wishes to come speak with the Board as long as protcol(s) has been followed and there isn't some attemp to circumvent said protocol(s).

    Posted 1/19/12

14. We do not, and I don't feel it is necessary. We schedule periodic meetings between the executive board of the union that represents our faculty and support staff, attended by the superintendent and board chair. Concerns or issues resulting from this are subsequently brought to the board.

    Posted 1/19/12

15. Our board has a nonvoting STUDENT on the board that gives up dates on student activities and positions in the school This is a good idea, and we learn a lot.

    Posted 1/19/12

16. We do have 2 teachers present at most of our board meetings. This has proved extremely helpful so far, at least in my view. It's always the same two, so there is continuity and an understanding of ongoing issues. Best has been the fact that they see the budgetary conundrums we face.

    Posted 1/19/12

17. We have had a non-voting teacher representatives for a number of years. The duties of this position have never been defined. Currently our teacher representative gives an oral report near the beginning of the meeting, almost always on events in the schools. The representative sometimes stays for the remained of the meeting, does not vote, and rarely participates in deliberation.

    Posted 1/19/12

18. We don’t have this, however, the meetings are public so any interested teachers could attend. Of course, our principal attends all meetings but doesn’t vote.

    Posted 1/19/12

19. We do not have teacher representation on the Board.

    Posted 1/19/12

20. We do not have teacher rep on our board.

    Posted 1/19/12

Posted 1/19/12

1. We have been able to undertake some significant renovation projects thru our capital reserve fund. Each year our union school asks voters at the annual meeting to approve a separate article allocating money for the capital reserve fund typically $65,000. Those funds are used for capital projects that are in excess of $10,000. For several years, the money accumulated until we had enough to repave the parking lot. Recently, we have used the funds to tackle energy efficiency projects such as installing energy efficient windows, energy efficient lighting, replacing our hot water system, and retrofitting our boiler.

   Posted 1/20/12

2. Infiltrate the American Legion, the VFW, your Seniors' Center, your congregations, your Realtors, Business Bureaus, Fraternities, Chambers of Commerce, etc. Have their boards push your agendas. Letters to the editors should be creative, persuasive (not argumentative) frequent and varied. Letters from critics should be answered quickly and in friendly, understanding terms. Articulate, cogent (mature) student persuasion is valuable; sappy, whiny, "needy" appeals are ineffective and cost you votes.

   Posted 1/20/12

3. This was many years ago, but we had the same sort of situation. For the second attempt we enlisted the assistance of community members to participate in all aspects of research and committee work. One committee I felt made a difference was relating all renovations/expansions to the state Standards and how the changes would increase our schools ability to achieve these standards.

   Posted 1/20/12

4. We have never had the need to tackle any major renovations yet. Our school is about 48-49 years old and has been properly maintained.

   Posted 1/20/12

5. Our school just went through this within the past five years. We received the 'last' large state commitment for supporting renovations and building of school buildings. And let me tell you that it was HARD work! We found some success in creating a building committee made up mostly of community members that worked with a couple of board reps around what is needed,why, what it would look like, cost, etc. You might have to repeat some of the work you have already done to include community members but when they are involved and help to make those important decisions, they can also become the spokespersons necessary who are equally knowledgable about the project. Our building committee changed slightly but for the most part we were in place for nearly six years as a group.

   Posted 1/19/12

6. Possible solutions:
   • Create a “Long-Term Maintenance Fund” which only requires a lower amount to be voted on as a separate Article. It is a long term approach that would allow your community to save for future projects like building construction and maintenance.
   • Work the different building renovations into the regular budget with a 5-10 year plan outlining the different needed pieces. This will allow for different maintenance, repair or upgrade be voted with the rest of the proposed budget expenses every year (not as a separate article), but be a lower amount to be addressed annually.

   Posted 1/19/12

7. It sounds like you have done a good job so far. The only suggestion I have is to try to identify the "groups that are voting against the bond and personally invite some of those people to sit on a committee to address the problems with the building. They may come on Board when they have a say in the solution.

   Posted 1/19/12

8. We involved community members in the preliminary discussions and, as we are a board representing several elementary boards, having representation (non-board members) from within each community on board, helped.

   Posted 1/19/12

9. One suggestion is to make sure the project has something in it for many interests. Athletics, Music, and Academics because that way you will get more of a broad support group.

   Posted 1/19/12

10. We're facing a similar project here, and we started with the fundamental question of whether the community actually wanted a school at all, or if we should explore shipping our kids elsewhere.
    
    It seems like an obvious question, but we felt as a board that it was one that needed to be asked before we could proceed with any sort of bond.
    
    From there forward, we've gone to great pains to conduct the entire process in an open and inclusive manner. We've done a number of mailings and community forums and meetings that we advertised via phone tree and direct mailing to residents. It's a TON of work, but we felt like it was the only way to ensure that everyone has their say.
    
    We don't know how it will turn out, we're still working toward a project scope, with the plan of going to bond in June. But we're working hard to be open and inclusive as we move forward.

    Posted 1/19/12

11. No "magic" stategy at present. Our school is in the same situation and our community has said...."stop asking!"...We NEED to get the legislature to address the critical "infra-structural issue" of supporting local boards who are required, by law, to maintain the local schools. End the embargo on State aid and think outside the box regarding how to help with state aid. The folks in our community won't take the full hit but...migh become open to discussing things IF there was state aid.

    Posted 1/19/12

12. We had a similar issue last year. Our first effort at a bond for badly needed renovation was defeated. We did the following…
    • Scaled back the scope
    • Had a series of meetings - some were open, some were with specific people
    • Organized parents of current students to lobby friends and acquaintances
    • Put out lots of written documentation and rationale showing that the compelling need and that investment now would result in huge savings over the long term and that special governmental programs practically gave us interest-free money.
    • Budget changes that made tax rates likely to stay flat, even with bond payments. (Currently they are projected to go down by $.02 in the coming fiscal year.
    • More documentation widely distributed addressing specific concerns raised at meetings and by casual conversations with townspeople in chance meetings.
    • A website that contained all relevant information and that was updated frequently.
    • A carefully documented and choreographed presentation at the special meeting the day before the vote.
    Good luck to those involved.

    Posted 1/19/12

13. Getting, and keeping, community support is something we work on continuously. Website, televised meetings, and Board members speaking to community members on an ongoing basis are all important. We firmly believe that reaching out to the public is an important, year-round, duty. Not just at voting day.

    Posted 1/19/12

14. As far as building renovations are concerned, every year we ask the community to support a $30,000 request to replace windows doors or whatever it takes to save money on energy. So far they have always said yes, we have been able to update our building a little at a time, we try to keep a bond for a more serious problem such as a roof.

    Posted 1/19/12

Posted 1/19/12

1. We do not have a policy about teachers being friends with students on facebook. That subject and related ones have come up for discussion on occasion.

   Posted 1/20/12

2. No we do not have a policy currently re: teachers being friends w/current students on social networks. They are advised but there is no formal policy.

   Posted 1/20/12

3. Policy Manuals are large and sometimes unwieldy because they have Contents that include provisions for faculty social network and Facebook expectations. Lawyers love layers of lawyerisms because they keep lawyers busy and burden Boards who then hire lawyers to interpret Policies, "intents" and...(You get the idea.) Teachers should know better than to become too casual with their students. It says so in their Code of Ethics. (American Association of Educators.) Simply hold your professionals to that Code (put it in your Negotiated Agreement if necessary). Administrators should enforce, etc.

   Posted 1/20/12

4. I am fairly certain we do not have this policy. We tend to maintain and update required policies, look at recommended policies to be certain they are not procedure and will adopt those we feel necessary with input from the administration. From my limit knowledge as a new member (not quite 1 year) we would ask the administration if they need a policy for an issue and if not, it may become a procedure at the administrations discretion.

   Posted 1/20/12

5. No policy is presently in place to govern this. The issue has come up recently and the Board may institute a policy with respect to this topic.

   Posted 1/20/12

6. No. We have a policy regarding technology and how it is used. We have not had anything like what is being asked... at least not yet.

   Posted 1/19/12

7. We do not currently have a policy concerning social networking provisions with Teacher/Student communication.

   Posted 1/19/12

8. We do not, but I think it is a good idea and will mention it to our policy committee.

   Posted 1/19/12

9. We do not have a policy, but the discussion does come up that one is needed.

   Posted 1/19/12

10. I'm not aware of a policy on that here.

    Posted 1/19/12

11. We have no such policy

    Posted 1/19/12

12. We do not have an OFFICIAL policy, but my wife is the High School Swim Coach and the AD ask her NOT to be FRIENDS with any of her swimmers on the team. It is OK to friend graduate swimmers, but not active ones.

    Posted 1/19/12

13. We don’t have one currently.

    Posted 1/19/12

14. We also don't have a policy about teacher involvement on facebook, maybe we should look into it.

    Posted 1/19/12

Posted 1/3/12

1. We use a combination of Roberts Rules, our own bylaws, and the State law. Seems to work for us. I would suggest that, if current practice has been working well for your district, as a new Board member there are other areas you could familiarize yourself with that could probably be a better use of your time and energy; not to mention your Admin team and fellow Board members' time.

   Posted 1/19/12

2. As far as I know, our board does not have by-laws. At least, they have never been referred to. The guidelines provided by education law and Roberts Rules seem sufficient to me. Even more important is plain old common sense.

   Posted 1/5/12

3. Our SU and the small districts all use Roberts Rules. We have as long as I have been on the board, 12 years now.

   Posted 1/5/12

4. All districts and schools have unique characteristics and all therefore need their own bylaws and policies. VSBA provides many samples that are very useful as quides.

   Posted 1/5/12

5. We rely on state law and Roberts Rules of Order.

   Posted 1/5/12

6. Our board has a Policy and Procedure Manual and do also abide by Roberts Rules of Order.

   Posted 1/5/12

7. We use a supervisory union level policy manual, state law and RRoO to guide the direction and operation of our school board.

   Posted 1/5/12

8. Our board follows Robert's Rule's.

   Posted 1/5/12

9. We do have bylaws for our board and mission statements. They have not been updated since the closure of the elementary school though.

   Posted 1/5/12

10. Basically go by Roberts Rules, but meetings are so short and not well attended that we often allow deviations, especially under Hearing of Visitors.

    Posted 1/5/12

11. To my knowledge, I believe we adhere to the VT State Law in regards to the conducting of business and utilitize Roberts Rule as a conduit. Not sure about by laws as between the State Laws and Roberts Rule and the Ballot Box, most issues are covered. Not opposed to by-laws but I am opposed to redundancy and bureaucracy.

    Posted 1/5/12

12. WE USE ROBERT RULES OF ORDER FOR SMALL BOARDS AND THIS IS CONFIRMED AT EVERY ANNUAL MEETING.

    Posted 1/5/12

Posted 1/3/12

1. Using student outcomes in evaluations is not as simple as it seems on the face of it. I remember some years ago, how one teacher was picked out for praise because of where her students ended up on standardized tests at the end of each year. On closer examination, it was determined that this particular teacher was being fed students who were already far above average when she got them. I personally used to teach remedial students. It was not uncommon for these 9th graders to have 5th-grade reading levels or even lower. If I got them to a 7th-grade level, it should have been recognized as achievement, even though they were still behind where we would wish them to be.

   Posted 1/5/12

2. I think it should go along with student outcome how else could you measure how a teacher is doing. First you have to make sure the evals are done.

   Posted 1/5/12

3. We do use the Danielson model and try to use student outcomes to direct professional development and curricular flexibility.

   Posted 1/5/12

4. We use data extensively at the supervisory union level, please contact Dr. Carol Spencer at the Addison Northwest SU office if interested in the methodology used.

   Posted 1/5/12

5. I am not sure about Teacher evaluation's,mostly our principal takes care of that.

   Posted 1/5/12

6. We had considered it at one point, but met opposition from not only teachers, but the Principal and Superintendent as well. We are a small school ( 70 in PreK-8 ) and the basic issue was that there could be issues with several students within a class that could skew the scores and not be fair to the teachers. This is the same excuse most often used to discuss poor NECAP scores.It also might lead to teachers giving false scores to make their own efforts appear more successful than they actually are.

   Posted 1/5/12

7. Our board does not get involved in teacher evaluation criteria - we delegate that to the superintendent. I think it is important for a board to avoid meddling in the superintendent's job.

   Posted 1/5/12

8. I DO NOT BELIEVE STUDENT OUTCOMES ARE DIRECTLY LINKED TO TEACHER EVALUATIONS

   Posted 1/5/12

Posted 1/3/12

1. I'm very happy to say that our community has gone above and beyond in supporting the sports program. In my opinion it is what keeps the quality program we have alive in the fullness it currently exists.
   
   Let the community pitch in!

   Posted 1/19/12

2. Parents at our elementary school (k-8) have developed successful soccer and basketball programs that are not affiliated with the school. Both programs are run as nonprofit organizations (separate organizations for soccer and basketball) and are managed by an annually elected Board of Directors. The parental volunteers for each program are responsible for all activities including raising funds to support the programs. Both programs do utilize facilities at the school including the recreation/soccer field and the gymnasium. Each program has been successfully run in this manner for well over 10 years.

   Posted 1/19/12

3. My general feeling is that if a school sponsors an extra-curricular activity, including sports, it should support it with a budget and taxpayer money. Outside groups and individuals may help out with fundraising, say for a special trip, or to help buy uniforms. We are looking at a way alumni and others can use a website to make donations, which they may earmark for a special activity or sport. So far we have not been forced to cut back on a sport or other extra-curricular activity.

   Posted 1/5/12

4. Budgeting is tight. For many years we have had community members (sport parents) do fund raising. It is helpful. The problem we have is a lack of control. Some parent sport group will purchase some piece of equipment (loud speakers, barbecue) and then believe the equipment to be theirs for their sport and no other sport is allowed to us it. We now have three separate sets of loud speakers.
   
   I would advise a board policy that all purchases go through the school and the equipment that can be used by multiple sports can and will be because it is owned by the school (not the parent sport group).

   Posted 1/5/12

5. A few of our extracurricular programs are funded by fundraising - some done by the activities themselves and some by community members. Unless designated for a specific use (a private bus to an away trip; auditorium seats, uniforms, for example), the funds go into the budget for the activity. Our football program, for example, is fully financed by fundraising with the exception of transportation and officiating - up to and including salaries, uniforms and equipment. We have just approved a club rubgy program which, too, will rely on fundraising outside of our budget for support. The "opertation" and administration of activies is in the hands of our administration and coaching/advising staff - not community members.

   Posted 1/5/12

6. We do not have trouble maintaining our sports programs. In fact, we have added football to our schedule. We have very strong community support along with our budgetary allowances.

   Posted 1/5/12

7. Not yet, but we only finance basketball at the elementary level and the coaches and referees are volunteers. Only the uniforms and coordinator position are supplemented. The High School has a booster club, that has benefited from local fund raising. We have not needed to request any support at the elementary level as soccer and baseball are funded by the town and the local youth baseball/softball association.

   Posted 1/5/12

8. We have a lot of fund raising by the P.T.A. ,they have gotten new sports equipment and new playground equipment. Without them our kids would have alot less.

   Posted 1/5/12

9. I have an opinion on the sports fundraising question. I absolutely think outside/parent fundraising is vital for sports programs within our schools. Our budget was cut so low a couple of years ago there was not even enough $ for umps & refs, we now have a budget that covers coaches, athletic director and most equipment( or can be used for refs & umps). It is up to the athletes and their families to fund raise for anything extra like new uniforms or any special equipment. It is truly a struggle constantly, but as a board member it gets heart breaking when you have to choose between a para or sports- Formal EDUCATION wins- so all of our schools need to fund raise for athletics so we can keep our children moving! (Just my own thoughts)

   Posted 1/5/12

10. No problem with our limited sports program in terms of budgetarty issues but we are so small we have a problem fielding a team period.

    Posted 1/5/12

11. With the current budget issues in mind, I am definitely in favor of School Sports using private fundraising as a mechanism to maintain programs. I realize that not ever community is on the same playing field (no pun intended) but any dollar that we can save the Ed Fund, the better. Then, the under or unfunded programs will have to be addressed by each Supervisory Union or District.

    Posted 1/5/12

12. Have to be careful.Mostly they need pre-approval. We have tried to ull all outside organization under the schools accounting and auditing policies. We have been successful with the exception of the "booster" club. They have issues with the administration and they raise funds and dish out as they ssee fit withouth input from coaches.

    Posted 1/5/12

Posted 11/10/11

1. Our grade school has a fecebook fan page that is only used by parents/nothing "official". The main difference is that Facebook PUSHES info to users... Which means it is useful to know there is something new, as opposed to the web site that I would have to check to see if there is anything new. I keep prodding administration to just post a note like, "new schedule for winter sports now on website"--complete with a link. More communication is always better

   Posted 1/20/12

2. Good morning, our PTA using facebook to keep parents and students up to date on their events and to inform parents of dates and times of events and what is going on with the PTA, it works well as a communication tool. However, there is no current policy in place other than ensuring it is used in a professional manner and not abused.

Posted 11/22/11

3. We use a Facebook fan page to augment communications with the public. The PTO has a page as well. Things get posted, but, not everything gets to everyone who subscribes to these pages. Though, Facebook is nice for some people, it is definitely not part of the official mode of communication. And shouldn't be. It is simply something extra. We also use front porch forum. But, that too, has similar limitations. A good web site with updated announcements, in addition to traditional communications, is more useful.

Posted 11/15/11

4. I would argue against using Facebook as a communications tool for newsletters, practice schedules, etc. Why not simply post them to an appropriate website accessible to everyone. My rationale is that I know many, many people who do not have Facebook accounts, nor do they want Facebook accounts, and frequently those who use Facebook for purposes such as you suggest end up using them exclusively.

Posted 11/14/11

5. We don't have a board policy on this regards, but it is my personal view that NO public school information of any sort should require any type of registration to access.
   
   In my limited world that leaves the likes of Facebook out.

Posted 11/10/11

Posted 11/10/11

1. The union might have an interesting overview on that effort.

Posted 11/14/11

2. I have long been an advocate for a statewide teachers’ (and other staff) contract that would take the negotiations and grievance processes out of the local schools. Teachers as public employees would have their salaries, benefits and working conditions established by a common contract. Statewide salary and benefit standards would bring greater equity to the field and be the final missing piece for equalized services for students. Act 60 and 68 brought equality to the ability to access revenue; a statewide contract would bring equality to the ability to spend appropriately. Under the current localized system, kids from poorer towns remain at a disadvantage. In many small towns, teachers stay only long enough to build a resume that qualifies them for a more attractive position.
   
   Local entities could then spend their energy on designing an educational model that best suits the needs of their school and community.
   
   The local negotiation process also contributes to an atmosphere of opposition between board and staff that detracts from their ability to work together on implementing a vision for the best student experience.
   
   For state employees, regional cost of living is not an issue; it should not be for teachers either. A contract could hold the highest paid teachers steady while the rest of the state catches up.
   
   This might be a better option than going with a private entity. In many cases of outsourcing (such as prisons, and bussing, food service, and custodians in public schools) quality has been a challenge.

Posted 11/10/11

3. Who we hire and why we hire them is, in my opinion, as much a part of "focusing on education" as is the curriculum.

Posted 11/10/11

4. Your question seems to imply that focusing on education excludes the hiring of teachers. I would disagree. The teacher who ends up in front of a class is the single most important piece of a child’s education. Particularly in small schools, local officials have the clearest sense of which teachers will resonate with the parents in the community as well as offer diversity and complimentary teaching skills to the existing small staff. As to support staff and all other non-licensed positions within the school, Act 153 designates the Superintendent as the hiring authority, so the board could only advise on whether to contract out for these employees.

Posted 11/10/11

Posted 10/11/11

1. I think this is like renting a school room to a religious group for a religious service. The school is a public building, and by extension the bus, and you should probably do it. But. like renting a room, you should have a policy and procedures in place (like- only if on our school routes, available seats, behavior - must abide by bus rules or forfeit the ride, etc) prior to allowing the activity. We have SU- wide transportation, and schools are billed based on per-pupil cost per mile, so a cost per child could be calculated, if desired. You might want to check with your insurance Co. as well.
   
   Our school buses are the greatest public transportation system in the state, and probably should be more accessible to taxpayers - if the Supervisory Unions haves rules, policies, and parameters in place for integrating others into the system.

Posted 11/10/11

2. Our district does this for an independent school right on the route and it seems pretty common sense. At least for me, I don't think our charge is to promote public education as much try to assure all our town's kids get a quality education in the most cost effective manner. If this means some kids are better served at an independent school and it is no extra expense to help these families with transport, that seems good public policy and good service to our taxpaying public.
   
   There may be a small question here about a parochial school, and church state issues, but it seems our job is to serve our taxpaying public more than to promote our public schools, which by any measure, cannot effectively serve every single student in our community (I would cite merely drop out rates or NECAP scores as a couple indicators that not every child is successful in our public schools).

Posted 10/31/11

3. My personal response: Doing a favor for children who are simply going to school is only a positive thing and the right thing to do. Though they (or their parents more likely) have chosen a different school, they are still members of the community and your neighbors. Denying this request would only strengthen their preference for non-public schools. I can see no basis for denial. I do see your point about setting a precedent, but it should be easy to deny requests that would change/lengthen the bus route on the grounds of cost and time.
   
   I am new to my school board and have no experience with such a request to draw on.

Posted 10/19/11

4. Our school district does pick up students from a private school. They are ride the respective buses to our high school where they transfer onto one bus and are taken less than a mile to their school. We have never had any troubles with this. And their parents pay our school taxes, so why not? This is family choice. Public school should not be so insecure about loosing pupils for this reason. Focus on giving the better education.

Posted 10/17/11

5. No, if they want their child to attend a private school, they need to provide their own transportation. That opens the ability to loose public school revenue and decreased enrollment.

Posted 10/16/11

6. No, I do not feel it is undermining overall support to public education by simply permitting a few students to ride the existing bus that goes through or by their house area. These parents are taxpayers and local citizens and have a right to this very small benefit to allow their child busing, as long as it is along the existing route; since they are not getting any other direct value out of their education tax dollars and their child is not causing a burden to the local public educational budget.
   
   This also provides some limited interaction time with students of another school, who are their neighbors and that may even impact a future decision to switch to public schools to be with other friends in their neighborhood?
   
   I am glad someone posed this question, but since I am very new to our school board, I am not aware if our school district our local high school has been faced with this question yet.
   
   I agree with other comments posted that a formal agreement would need to be signed by the parent's of a private school student, as well as the student so that he/she is fully aware of the busing rules of conduct and procedures. Plus, this agreement must clearly stipulate that space is limited to availability needs of the public school students, now and in the future. As far as concerns of who is liable; in case of any injury or potential bus accident, the busing company and ultimately the school district would be liable for any and all riders on the bus, just like I am covered as a potential parental chaperone on a busing field trip, when I ride the bus (in my opinion).

Posted 10/16/11

7. I'm in favor of schools working together. In this case there don't seem to be any costs to be incurred so there is no real economic transfer to the other school.. Would there be liability problems?

Posted 10/16/11

8. Not long after the a local private school opened, they requested that their students who lived close by be transported by the district. They are located technically across the street from the public school.
   
   After much discussion and weighing all the scenerios, we felt it would be best to not take this on. If I remember correctly, liability for non public students and fairness to other local students going to other private schools and not getting transported, were the main reasons.

Posted 10/13/11

9. My first thought is that it's a reasonable request, but in kicking it around here in the office, one of my colleagues rightly pointed out that one of the 'benefits' of a public education is the bussing that gets students to and from. Simply put, if you want a free lift to school, we provide that already, but to our public school. By choosing a private school, the family has also inherently chosen to take on the transportation of their children.

   I would argue further that while public education doesn't necessarily 'fit' everyone perfectly, by choosing a private school, families are making a conscious choice to put their energies in to a parallel school system, and that those energies may well be better spent pitching in at the public school to make it a better place for all children. In Vermont in particular, our schools really are community resources, and we're always open to new, bigger, better, or different approaches to learning that ensure the best outcomes for all of our kids.

   That's the choice I've made, both as a parent and a school board member - I'm working to ensure that the school we have is the one we want, instead of shopping around for one that's closer to my 'ideal' and then feeling bad about paying for both.

Posted 10/12/11

10. No our district has never done that before. Our bus service charges for everything and every stop so it wouldn't be "free" even if it was on the way. It would be an extra expense. Even a stop "on the way" is changing the route and contract agreement.

    My question to the school board members and bus contracting service is "who is financially responsible for the safety of those children that do not go to your school?" If the child was injured or or had any sort of incident while on the bus who is responsible for it?

    If the parents didn't feel the public school should educate their child, why provide them with a free ride?

Posted 10/12/11

11. I think this is like renting a school room to a religious group for a religious service. The school is a public building, and by extension the bus, and you should probably do it. But. like renting a room, you should have a policy and procedures in place (like- only if on our school routes, available seats, behavior - must abide by bus rules or forfeit the ride, etc) prior to allowing the activity. We have SU- wide transportation, and schools are billed based on per-pupil cost per mile, so a cost per child could be calculated, if desired. You might want to check with your insurance company as well.
    Our school buses are the greatest public transportation system in the state, and probably should be more accessible to taxpayers - if the Supervisory Unions haves rules, policies, and parameters in place for integrating others into the system.

Posted 10/12/11

12. I know in our area we bus for the private school, however the school itself pays for their busing, it isn't a huge amount but helps to cover the costs of busing. Even though they are close by it still would not be a place that our buses would go without there being a private school there.

Posted 10/12/11

13. A majority of our behavior issues happen on the buses. It is the largest time period of unstructured and least supervised time of the day. By allowing children on the bus that you have no discipline over you are asking for problems. Also if here is a bus accident, are there any problems with insurance or parents from the private school sueing you?

    Posted 10/12/11

14. I feel that the financial support for transportation would be appreciated. Although, as we all know a lot of behavior problems on the bus. I would really like to get the opinions of the bus driver's and consider how the follow through regarding problems on the bus would be addressed before throwing support behind it.

Posted 10/12/11

15. In my experience, the cold hard fact is students will go where the transportation takes them. Most of our kids went to a local high school until a bus was arranged going to another one where the majority now attend. Five years ago, a bus driven by a local resident who brought his bus to his residence nightly, started to take a few students to a local academy from his home. Five years later, the route has grown and twenty five of our students now attend that academy (only two or three attended before the bus). It certainly seems that it is the RECEIVING school's responsibility to provide transportation NOT the SENDING school. Sure some of the folks asking to use the bus to take their kids to the parochial school are local taxpayers but, once the lid has been opened to the transportation box it will be hard to say no to parents requesting transportation for their kids to other schools. Our school (K - 8) doesn't budget for the transportation of our secondary students ( except for special ed. students ) all of whom have free choice in which school they attend. They are transported via parental arrangement or by the receiving school. AND...the elephant in the room, separation of church and state in all matters especially when it comes to using taxpayer funds

Posted 10/12/11

16. I as a board member would vote to drop the students off at the parochial school. The facts state that it is on the normal route. As you stated the parents are taxpayers and they contribute to the public system as much as thier next door neighbor and because they choose to pay extra to send a child to another school should not exclude them from some of the tax dollars they have spent for the public sector. Being that this will not alter the publics financial position, and no party is harmed, I vote to drop the students off.

Posted 10/12/11

17. The board member should consider reviewing the Vermont Supreme Court case of Chittenden Town School District v. Department of Education, 169 Vt. 310 (1999) and get an opinion for legal counsel.

Posted 10/12/11

18. As long as this is along the bus route, and is already within the terms of our transportation contract, I see no problem with this. These are taxpayers and I would like more support when it comes time to vote on issues of importance to our school. Since we are a small community I do not feel we would be undermining our support of public education, because they may need to attend our school in the future.

Posted 10/12/11

19. We have our own bus fleet and do transport to two public tech ed centers. We do have other students that attend a private school but they supply their own transportation. We have never had a request for this in the years I have been on the board. If the schools are on the regular bus route and times are not conflicting, it might be an item for consideration.

Posted 10/12/11

20. You have a seriously slippery slope in this situation. I think with the best of intentions you are opening up at least 2 possible issues: transportation to other private schools may reasonably be requested in the future and support of parochial education with public $s could also become problematic. I don't think I would do it no matter how reasonable it sounds at the outset.

Posted 10/12/11

21. I have no factual basis for my response...but... I think you're looking for trouble. I personally would like to see this done, as you said, taxpayers are paying for the bus (including parochial parents) but I suspect you will be in trouble from some group for not keeping church and state separate. Our district does not have busing..so we haven't encountered this situation.

Posted 10/12/11

22. Normally the VSBA keeps the Member to Member page anonymous, but the following response included a piece of an actual school policy. I am copying into the body a section of Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union policy #3100 Transportation which deals with this issue. The complete policy is on available at www.svsu.org.

    Bus routes will be established for the needs of SVSU Districts and the transportation needs of their students by the Superintendent or his/her designee in conjunction with the busing contractor.

    However, students who are eligible to attend public schools within the SVSU but who attend private schools located within the SVSU geographic area may be provided transportation on a space available basis, up to the legal limits of the vehicle assigned to that route. These students may be eligible on a space available basis for transportation from a designated bus stop to the public school being served by that route.

    Annually, during the month of June, the Superintendent shall publish notification in the Bennington Banner warning all private schools operating within the legal boundaries of the SVSU to submit names and addresses of all students attending those schools, so that said students may be incorporated into bus routes and schedules pursuant to section #5 above. Student lists must be submitted to the Superintendent no later than July 15.120

    Posted 10/12/11

23. If you do it for one, you need to do it for all regardless if it is on the route.

    Posted 10/11/11

24. I feel it should be looked at case by case. I don't have a problem with helping out the community. We all ready do this for daycare places by dropping off children at their door. YES

    Posted 10/11/11

25. The first step is to assure that there is no Vermont law, rule or case law that applies. If the Board has the option, I would not support funding transportation for a religious school. It seems to me that parents who choose to send their children to a religious or other private school must be willing to pay for the costs, including transportation.

    Posted 10/11/11

26. On the question of transporting students who attend a parochial, I am opposed to this action. This provides support for parochial schools with public funds. This could also create a domino effect with other students within the same district requesting transportation. This is a slippery slope that we don't want to get on.

    Posted 10/11/11

27. This has never come up during my tenure. We've had lots of discussions about the extent of our bus service - but only for students coming to and going from our school.

    As a matter of interest, I can tell you how this discussion would go here. Everyone except me - :-) - would say never. I would say why not? They pay taxes, the service is available, doesn't really cost us anything, is a nice thing to do and will build goodwill at budget-voting time. I would, however, suggest going further and getting getting legal advice on liability, precedent, ability to cancel the offering if more private groups begin to ask (sooner or later all of those stops WILL cost money) and so on.

    If it's a small town and the impact is negligible it seems like a good idea. They're all neighbors. Perhaps a token fee....it does represent a cost savings to the parents who don't have to drive to the parochial school. A small fee might also head off complaints about the separation of church and state - and you know that's going to come up.

    Good luck with this one.

Posted 10/11/11

28. My answer would be Voucher/School Choice.

Posted 10/11/11

29. We are in the business of education and should not be involved in the transportation or religion business. By law we are required to provide education not transportation.

Posted 10/11/11

30. I believe it would be both inappropriate for taxpayer funds to be used to provide transportation for a private school and a dangerous precedent as well. Once this was supported, could you reasonably deny other organizations similar access to transportation services? That said, I could envision a situation in which the private school paid the SU to provide transportation services under a contractractual agreement that recovered SU costs. I would not enter into any such an agreement without first obtaining advice from your SU legal counsel.

Posted 10/11/11

31. For me the question is the open access of the school in question. If the service can be provided without additional expense and the school is accessible to all, need-blind with an equal opportunity, no discrimination admissions policy, then I see no issue to providing basic transportation support for another school choice. I do not think that aiding transporting to alternative schools will undermine our public schools, but do feel that we must maintain the values of a public system providing fair access to all students. Using public funds to provide transportation to schools that do not abide by these principles and other regulations central to our public nature would, I think, be a real problem.

Posted 10/11/11

32. We provide transportation to the local Catholic School on a “SPACE AVAILABLE “ situation on our normal routes. We have been doing this for many years. I know our neighbors in New York provide bus transportation to ALL Religious schools and even provides the books to the students too.

Posted 10/11/11

33. If one of these children have an altercation with a student from your school, you could be held liable for not assuring safe passage to that student

Posted 10/11/11

34. I can not imagine that adding private school students to our public school runs could be a bad thing, as far as I know parents that send their children to private school don't pay any less in taxes for our school budgets than parents that send to the public schools. I personally would never interpret this gesture as a way of not promoting public education. I would see it as promoting community and all education at the same time! This is just a personal thought.

Posted 10/11/11

35. We had a problem like this around a decade ago!! There is a charter school just below where our buses are stored . We chose not to bus those kids even though we went right by the entrance to the school . Our reason for denying the request was as follows:
    We had several kids going to parochial schools in surrounding towns. We felt if we bused the charter school kids the parents wanted us to bus their kids to the parochial schools also. So we chose not to bus them! BUT the another local school district chose to bus their kids to charter school and they still do !!!!

    My question around this issue is === What about the Constitutional question of Separation of Church and State???

Posted 10/11/11

36. Our district has not had this question presented to us, and we have no parochial schools in our town. However, I can say that every student who attends a parochial school is in effect costing the district over $8,000 (the per pupil amount given to each district for each "equalized pupil"). If even one student were to withdraw from the district to attend a parochial school because transportation is now available, where it was not before, then it is no longer a "cost neutral" decision. Our district started sending a bus to another local district to accomodate students who have free choice about which high school (and now middle school) they attend, and saw our tuition numbers increase significantly, way more than enough to pay for the bus service.

Posted 10/11/11

37. This is not something our school has been asked to do or consider. It seems pretty cut and dry to me. There is no way I would even consider this for our school district as it would be public funds used to support a private religious school. Also, if you do it for one school you have to do it for all.

Posted 10/11/11

38. In my humble opinion that is a can of worms because even though it is not “out of the way”, it opens the door for folks that ARE out of the way to say “Why can’t we get some of that?” I’m not sure we’ve had that issue in my district or not, certainly not during my tenure on the Board, but I would have to vote that down.

Posted 10/11/11

39. Although superficially, this seems like a very neighborly idea, I would be very reluctant to allow this for a variety of reasons primarily the perception of tax dollars supporting parochial education. The other reason is the one you mentioned which is the erosion of public education. While you may be allowed to do this under your bus contract you expose yourselves to the other issues. In my opinion, if your community does not think this is an issue, well, that is an issue in itself.

Posted 10/11/11

40. If the question 1) Creates no logistical issues and 2) Is within the terms of the transportation contract, why not do it? Providing a service that benefits taxpayers and voters should garner goodwill, not be controversial. Additionally, why would you consider your mandate to support public education only? Are not taxpayers, voters, and board members primarily interested in the education of children? To support only the public school in spite of other alternatives seems limiting and isolationist. Don’t the private schools also participate in after-school programs, particularly sports? If you have confidence in your school system, it should benefit from contact with other schools and other kids.

Posted 10/11/11

41. As a taxpayer... NO, these parents have chosen private education and with that comes the cost and responsibility of transportation.

    As a member of a public school school board that has just cut a bus route to save monies and protect curriculum, I think not. It may seem to be a nice thing to do this year, but think of the precident set that may not only effect your future, but that of other SUs in the state. I would hate to see a mandate arise out of precident.

    Finally, In the end, if you allow anyone on a school bus that is not enrolled in your public school system one could argue that you are a public transportation system with all of its liabilities and risks.

    My opinion, not even a consideration.

Posted 10/11/11

42. While I myself think is only logical and reasonable, it sounds way to much like the 1947 New Jersey transportation situation that was turned into a case that was brought to the US Supreme Court and where Justice Hugo Black, (who was also a lawyer working for the KKK before his appointment to the court!)in writing for the majority, "found" the constitutionality of a separation of church and state and disallowed transportation for Catholic students, on "public school busses that were dropping them off on the way to the public schools! So I would stay away from the issue of transporting children to any place but the schools that you are responsible for.

Posted 10/11/11

Posted 6/27/11

1. At my school district we've had a longstanding - I mean LONGstanding as long as I've been on the board) issue with gender gap in achievement. The most pronounced aspect of this is with awards where children are selected for recognition by faculty and staff on some basis other than pure academic achievement. There is also a noticeable gap in academic achievement, although there appears to have been progress in this regard recently. Stay tuned for further information in this regard.

   Our current administration professes to be aware of and working on this. We'll see.

   I really have no current information on how things stand at the highschool. Probably twelve years ago the then-principal gave what I would describe as a statistical abstract of the school district to the board and it was pretty apparent that there was a gender gap in achievement which favored females. The principal's comment at the time: "It's not cool to be a smart boy at our school". There was never (meaning while I was still on the board) any follow-up to this that we were made aware of. Again - this is dated information and I can not attest to what has or has not been done to improve the situation, if it still exists.

   Gender bias is a tough subject and different from differences in achievement by gender at different life stages. The behavioral differences between boys and girls are well-documented. This is no excuse for lack of effort by the institution but it is not possible to fairly and accurately address educational issues without acknowledging all of the factors involved. The part of what I've described that MAY be most alarming is the part about bias where selection by criteria other than academics is involved.

   One area of concern for me in this discussion is the attitude of central and local administrations re: information. This is not a new subject and I'm sure that there exists substantial research on the subject. A full discussion involves such research AND what local administration is doing about it.

   Posted 7/12/11

2. We have looked at this question several times and not found significant evidence to warrant making curricula or pedogological changes simply to address it. We found that more significant factors were economic parameters, home situations and, basically, minimal preparation for school during pre-school years. I know that St Mike's did an in-depth study with results confirming a chasm between male and female performance. Hope this helps!

   Posted 7/12/11

3. I am on a school board in Northern VT where population is small. We have not been made aware of any gender issues regarding academic performance in our school.

   Posted 7/1/11

4. I definitely see this both in the testing results and in my own son’s path through school (he is bright and does not have any impediments, but is not really engaged). While I am skeptical of any of these standardized tests as an absolute scale of anything, I do think that the overall distinctly noticeable relative results and trends of boys lagging as compared to girls deserve notice, attention, and action.

   I am deeply interested in the subject and specific of the project-based learning mentioned by another above. I myself learn best that way; in fact, in some subject areas, especially math, it’s really the only way I ever learned effectively or in any depth of substantive comprehension (and, unfortunately, then, only after/ outside of formal education, which meant that various doors were closed in educational and career options). At various points in my own academic path as a kid I was first routed into a “slow track” due to my failure to engage with math via standard classroom methods (at least at the time) and then later was put in what were then called “gifted and talented programs” in which there were more project-based type options and I flourished. I unfortunately watched some really bright and talented kids dead end academically and then, in boredom and frustration, head down paths of bad life directions- and have a real sense that there, but for fortune, go I...

   I think it is tremendous and overdue that our society has taken the steps that have begun to let girls and women flourish and have a more expansive set of educational, work, and life options — but we are shooting ourselves in the foot as a society if we’re leaving broad swaths of boys (who are of course growing up to be men) feeling disengaged and stagnant.

   I would like to know more about what school here in VT is doing the “Pathways” project based learning program because it sounds like something that has tremendous positive potential.

   Posted 7/1/11

5. I am unaware of any such problems in our school. I have not heard tell of them casually or otherwise.

   Posted 7/1/11

6. Yes we have seen the gap between boys’ and girls’ performance on the NCAP Standards Test for a number of years now. Clearly girls way outperform boys.

   My personal belief is that girls (including my 2 daughters and stepdaughter) have benefited tremendously from all the focus in the last 20 years or more to raise girls’ self-esteem and to create a positive environment of support. Girls out-perform boys at most grade levels including college. That is an outstandingly positive outcome for so many lives. It is awesome! I would take nothing away from that success.

   I think we are overdue to have a focused approach to educating boys. Boys learn differently. Different parts of boys’ brains mature at different rates than girls, some faster, some slower. So, in my opinion teachers need to be trained to teach boys and girls differently.

   Some say that same sex education is the answer. Perhaps in a few classes (English? Social Studies?) it makes sense to have all girl classes and all boy classes. I do not have an answer, but I think it needs to be looked at and tried. We often wait for a long time for the right study to show us the way as if there is some magic bullet that will fix all problems. We should use our own leadership skills. Certainly the current education system is short changing boys.

   Another way to reach and engage boys it to find out where thier interests are. If one has a passion for bicycling, ask him to research and write about some aspect of cycling. Read a book on cycling around the county. Figure out how long it would take at so many miles per hour to go from the Mass border to the Canadian border.

   Research the various frame compounds and make a case for why one is best. Etc.

   There is a program we have going called Pathways. It is small right now – 20-30 kids. Students (boys and girls) must apply to get into it. It is aimed at providing alternative pathways to graduation from HS. It is largely project based education. Students design a project around an interest and with an advisor structure it so Math, English, Science, Social Studies is built into it. We’ve seen unengaged students just take off with this approach.

   We need to expand it to include all students who do not learn the traditional way. Right now we are short changing too many lives.

   Posted 7/1/11

7. Based on my personal experience in Honors or AP classes at our high school, it is evident that there is at least a significant difference in enrollment numbers. It is fairly common to find myself in a class far outnumbered by girls. This, in my opinion, comes mostly from a difference in attitude. Boys tend to draw more satisfaction from athletic or other extracurricular success rather than academic achievement. The guidance department is best suited to resolve the issue as they enroll students in classes.

   Posted 7/1/11

Posted 6/3/11

1. Our school district does not allow non resident children to attend without paying a tution.

   Posted 7/1/11

2. We no longer allow children of non-resident teachers to attend our elementary school without paying 'tuition'. Allowing children of non-resident teachers to attend was viewed by some as an unfair salary benefit available only to those teachers with children.

   Posted 7/1/11

3. We allow it to encourage a good teacher to stay.

   Posted 7/1/11

4. The children of non-resident teachers may attend our school if they wish to pay tuition and there is room in the class needed.

   Posted 7/1/11

5. Only if they bring tuition with them from their school district.

   Posted 7/1/11

6. Our school does not generally allow non-resident teachers children to attend school without approval from the school board and I believe tuition must be paid. Here is something out of our policy that may help.
   Teachers may request a waiver for their own children subject to the same requirements stated above. Teachers will be required to pay tuition for their children per the terms stated previously.

   Posted 7/1/11

7. Not in our policies, but I can't predict what we would do if asked. I agree it is a form of compensation.

   Posted 7/1/11

8. Our board looked into this a couple of years ago and after checking with the state found there are a number of complications that would arise and could potentially cost the town substantial money if a teacher had a SPED student. After careful consideration, the board decided that it would be in the taxpayers best interest to only allow students who pay tuition or are residents.

   Posted 7/1/11

9. This was researched and at the time they were counted as part of the average daily student account which occurred on the 40th day of the school year. This practice/policy was discontinued once the provisions of act 60 came into play. The law did not allow for students that were not residents to attend a school unless they paid the prevailing tuition. This of course could be waived by the board but the ramifications were that the district would not receive school aid for those students since they were not residents of the district. In another situation we waived the fee in exchange for a individual to provide art instruction in the school for one year.

   Posted 7/1/11

10. We allow children from other towns that have parents that either teach or work in another capacity within our district come to the school but they must pay the tuition that any other person would pay.

    Posted 6/2/11

11. Yes we do, in fact we have that situation currently--although we know that its temporary and its for preschool purposes. So a clarification is needed as I dug into our teacher/student situation. The teacher who has a non resident child in our school is accessing the preschool partnership for this situation and we do not as a school make it a practice to accept non resident children of staff. Please see the clarification below:

    Regarding allowing children of staff to come to _______, the decision is actually guided by our "admission of non-resident children" policy (f14). We actually do NOT make it a practice to accept children of staff. According to F14, a child is only admitted if he/she does NOT have access to educational programming in his/her home district (an exception is the preschool partnership agreement.) In other words, a child will only be admitted if schooling isn't an option in the area they live in. Thus, we'd take a child from Hancock, which no longer has a school and tuitions all their children, but not Warren.

    Posted 6/2/11

12. Our board does allow the children of non-resident teachers to attend the school, as a matter of board policy, not negotiated agreement. It is not an entitlement for teachers, but granted by the board on a space available basis. “The Board may waive tuition, in whole or in part, for the child of a non-resident full-time teacher admitted in accordance with this policy. If granted, the waiver will be for the period of one school year, and may be renewed upon request at the Board’s sole discretion.”

    We understand the possible risks of this policy, but believe that there are strong institutional benefits when the children of teachers attend our school as:

    • Teachers are able to focus on their work without being distracted by day-care issues in another town; they are able to fully participate in afterschool meetings and projects without having to worry where their children are.
    • Teachers understand the importance of good teaching because it affects their own kid(s).
    • The policy builds good will and commitment.
    Below is the entire policy statement.

    ADMISSION OF NON-RESIDENT TUITION STUDENTS

    Non-resident students may be admitted to the _________ School when space is available, in compliance with federal and state laws and regulations governing tuition payment and non-discrimination.

    By February 1st of each year, the Board shall establish non-resident tuition rates for the next school year. Separate rates may be established for students whose fees are paid by other school districts, and for students whose families will be responsible for payment of tuition. Ordinarily, the Board will accept privately paid tuitions only for Preschool and Kindergarten classes. Tuition rates will be established in accord with Chapter 21 of Title 16 of the Vermont Statutes Annotated, and regulations of the State Board of Education.

    No non-resident will be denied admission as a tuition student on the basis that the student is disabled as defined in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended, or that the student is in need of special education services. Nor will any child be denied admission on the basis of sex, creed, color, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation or race.

    Subject to the non-discrimination requirements above, a non-resident who applies for admission as a tuition student shall be admitted if the Board determines that space is available and, if the student has previously attended school, the student is in good standing at the school or schools most recently attended.

    A non-resident applicant for admission as a tuition student may appeal the Principal’s denial of his/her application by submitting a written request to appeal to the Board within ten days of the denial. The Board will provide an opportunity for the applicant and/or his/her parent or guardian to discuss the request not to uphold the decision of the Principal. The Board will render a decision within 30 days of the request to appeal.

    Tuition for non-resident students shall be payable at any time prior to enrollment. When a student enrolls after the beginning of a semester, tuition for the student will be prorated accordingly. The Board may waive tuition, in whole or in part, for the child of a non-resident full-time teacher admitted in accordance with this policy. If granted, the waiver will be for the period of one school year, and may be renewed upon request at the Board’s sole discretion.

13. SAMPLE Procedure F.17
    PUPILS OF CERTIFIED, NON-RESIDENT EMPLOYEES

    The ______________ School may admit the children of certified employees who reside outside the Charleston district. The principal shall review requests annually taking in to consideration class size, good standing of student, and other pertinent factors before making the decision to allow admittance of certified employee’s non-resident student.

    Requests must be made in writing in a timely manner for review.

    The attendance of a ______________ district non-resident certified employee’s child may not result in the need to provide additional services or the need to hire additional staff.

    The tuition rate for children of certified non-resident employees will be 25% of the established tuition rate.

    This will become effective for the 2009-2010 school year.
    

    Posted 6/1/11

14. We only allow non- resident students to attend our school if they pay full tuition. This includes teachers' children. It has never been an issue.
    

    Posted 6/1/11

15. This does happen but it is typically through the school choice agreement we have with two other SUs.
    

    Posted 6/1/11

16. We do not allow this at our school. Allowing teachers to send students tuition free is a form of compensation.
    

    Posted 6/1/11

17. We were asked by our teachers for such an accommodation however on the advise of our Superintendent we chose not to because of cost for special services which may arise and in addition to other cost issues.
    

    Posted 6/1/11

18. We have no policy, but would allow if they are in our high school choice schools or are to be tuition students.
    

    Posted 6/1/11

19. For thirteen years we allowed two teachers and two paras to let their children attend our school, we felt rather than lose the teacher or the paras we would accommodate them.

    They are excellent teachers and to want to send their kids to our school says something for the school and how they purseve us.

    So up until last Sept. another school in our district wanted to do the same as us. But someone started to holler about a bonus we were offering, That put the stop to it. Unfortunately it is sad that we were forced to stop offering what we thought as a good thing to do.

    We only made them pay a small amount just to say we charged them something.

    Sometimes its not always about the money.
    

    Posted 6/1/11

20. D14 - Tuition Courtesy for professionally licensed employees Any teacher who lives outside the _____________School District in a school district that does not pay tuition to the _________________ School District may elect to have his/her children attend ____________ without paying tuition. Teachers requesting such professional courtesy agree to pay an annual user fee for each student. Teachers requesting such courtesy also agree to pay for any special education or technical education costs which might be incurred by the school district related to their son's/daughter's enrollment. Daily transportation from outside the district will not be provided as part of the this courtesy.
    

    Posted 6/1/11

21. The answer to your question is that we do not have a policy and that this would be decided on an individual basis.
    

    Posted 6/1/11

22. We do allow this practice. I don't have the policy documentation at hand, but, I will say, I think it is a wise policy to make accommodations for teachers--especially, if this is a parent/teacher with young children. Of course, in reality, it is no real additional expense--as it does not increase our class sizes in anyway that would require additional funds. If such were the case, or if it were an additional special education cost, well that would be different.

    There have been several instances where we have made accommodations for parent/teachers such as a .8 FTE position as opposed to 1.0. It all really depends what you want to do in order to maintain high quality staff. In that regard I think it is a good idea to be flexible and have some discretion in the policy.

    For example, we have a full day 4 year old pre-school program that has limits to the number of students we can take. In such a case, we have a policy that prioritizes residents over tuition students. We have wondered what we would do if we were at our limit and had a teacher with a child that wanted to enter into the program. In all likelihood we would prioritize residents. (Though that is not in the policy at this time.) That is where a good policy helps out. And in terms of consistency, residents do expect a policy when it is their child that is being bumped--regardless of who is in the class.

    A good--long term policy goes a long way--but then there is something to be said for having the discretion when it is wisely applied according to the circumstances. We are a smaller rural school and sometimes you need that flexibility to attract the best teachers.

    When drafting the policy, be thinking about these possible scenarios, especially if you are a more rural school that needs flexibility in hiring.
    

    Posted 6/1/11

23. There are some districts that do that. We are phasing it out because one of the problems is they need to be taxed and it has to show as income on their W4 form.
    

    Posted 6/1/11

24. Our districe and/or SU do not allow children of teachers out of school to attend the school of their parent even within the SU!!!!!
    

    Posted 5/31/11

25. Our master agreement is silent on this issue.
    

    Posted 5/31/11

26. We do not allow children that do not reside in our town to attend our school. It is a strict policy that does not deviate.
    

    Posted 5/31/11

27. Our board has a strict “one of the parents must live in the district” policy. No exceptions.
    

    Posted 5/31/11

28. We do, but this is currently the subject of negotiations.
    

    Posted 5/31/11

29. By contract agreement as per the recently settled contract we allow three children of non-resident teachers to attend our school on a tuition-free basis.

    It is, in my opinion, a peculiar arrangement which underscores the nature of the strangle-hold that the NEA has on the overall process of education. These chits or vouchers or whatever one might call them are awarded not to the students in question but to the union, which then awards them as it sees fit.

    We recently had a request from a teacher to waive the limit of three and award an additional voucher so that all of the children of the teacher in question could attend our school. Technically we would have been granting the exception to the union, which then would have awarded the voucher.

    The board declined to award the extra voucher. As you can imagine there were a number of faculty members and the union rep who were displeased with the board's decision (I say "the board" - it was a 3-2 vote).

    The actual language of the contract is listed following the below comment. (Article 36)

    Posted 6/2/11

30. Our SU does negotiate this as part of the contract with the teacher's union. Each school in the SU provides the association a total of 3 tuition vouchers (for 3 students, not families) for use by non-resident teachers, equivalent to the announced tuition rate, to be used at that school. The association allocates the vouchers to the teachers and teachers exercising the voucher are responsible for any and all excess fees or costs in excess of the announced tuition rate. The value of the tuition voucher provided to the Association and recipient teacher is added to the teacher's W-2 and is subject to taxes. These students are not able to be counted in our ADM.

    Language from the contract
    ARTICLE 36 - ENROLLMENT OF CHILDREN OF NON-RESIDENT TEACHERS
    

    36.1 Annually, the Board agrees to issue to each unit of the Association, three (3) tuition vouchers, in amounts equivalent to the announced tuition rate for the respective school for that school year.

    36.2 The Association may allocate and give said vouchers to teachers in the respective school unit upon such criteria, terms and conditions as it may establish.

    36.3 Teachers exercising such vouchers and/or the teacher's home school district are responsible for any and all excess fees or costs in excess of the announced tuition rate.

    36.4 Subject to the terms of the District's Non-Resident Student Policy (the Board waives the limitations in the policy regarding space available), the Board agrees to admit children of non-resident teachers exercising the Association's vouchers.

    36.5 Such admitted students continued enrollment is conditioned upon the student's good standing in the District and the continued application of the Non-Resident Student Policy and the voucher program herein.

    36.6 Except as expressly noted herein, vouchers under this program may not be assigned, transferred, or applied outside the respective unit district.

    36.7 Vouchers are non-cumulative and are only valid for the school year in which said vouchers are issued.

    36.8 The value of the tuition voucher provided to the Association and recipient teacher by the District will be added to the teacher's W-2 statement of total wages and shall be subject to federal and state income taxes.

    36.9 For the "one" School District only, students of non-resident teachers enrolled in that School District during the 2000-2001 school year under the provisions of the 2000-2001 Negotiated Agreement and its predecessors may continue to be enrolled subject to the provisions of this Article, however, the limitation of three (3) vouchers per district shall not apply to such students.

    36.10 The Association, for itself and on behalf of all members of the bargaining unit, agrees that if the voucher program, or any portion thereof, is challenged, (including but not limited to suits, complaints, grievances, etc.) modified or otherwise ruled invalid, this Article of the Agreement will be declared null and void.
    

    Posted 5/31/11

31. I am unaware of the question arising in our district, at least in the last 20 years or so. It certainly has never been raised during collective bargaining. However, I see no basis on which to allow the children of non-resident teachers to attend our schools for free. It is conceivable that, during the collective bargaining process, arrangements could be made for children of non-resident teachers to attend local schools. But, it would have to be in the collective bargaining context or else it might be considered an additional benefit for one teacher (or a very few teachers) that the districts are in no legal position to provide without union consent. Even in the collective bargaining case, I think that the agreement should provide for a debit to the parent-teacher's salary of the tuition in an amount of the tuition rate set by the Board each year, even if the teacher gets the benefit of having that amount deducted on a biweekly (or other periodic) basis.
    

    Posted 5/31/11

32. This would require Board action like any other request for a non-resident student.
    

    Posted 5/31/11

33. We do not. Because we believe it would be a good perk that would benefit the school, we have looked into it. But we cannot find a way to set it up so that it doesn't cause more problems than it solves.
    

    Posted 5/31/11

34. In our district it was the board’s initiative a number of years ago. It is good public relations when “EVEN” teachers want to bring their children to our school. We believe it says something about the quality of the education in the school, and it contributes to good environment.. We have had no problems with the public or the staff. We have a small amount the staff must pay for consumables and if SPED is involved the student’s family is responsible for the costs.
    

    Posted 5/31/11

35. From my understanding there is standard tuition fee but I believe the policy should allow the teacher to tuition their child in at a discounted rate. If we have someone giving back to our community than we should give back to them as well but free may not make sense as their property tax dollars are going to a different school. With that being said, if the family is within our Supervisory Union couldn’t it technically be “free” as the distribution of funds could be taken care of at the District Office?
    

    Posted 5/31/11

36. We do not have contract language allowing non-resident teachers' children to attend our school. The practice has potential cost issues that we are absolutely not interested in addressing. If there are any kind of IEP or other behavioral/learning issues, how could you ask your taxpayers to provide extra services with no way to collect any supporting money from the feds or state? Or you have a situation where the children of teachers are the numbers that push you to hire another staff member- again, I couldn't in good conscience, ask for my taxpayers to foot that bill.
    

    Posted 5/31/11

37. Yes we would allow this. Makes for a happy teacher.
    

    Posted 5/31/11

38. No we do not allow that.
    

    Posted 5/31/11

39. After much debate, we decided a few years back that non-resident teachers' children must go through the same tuitioning-in request process like any other non-town resident.
    

    Posted 5/31/11

40. In my 14 years on several boards I have never come across the problem !!! I know it is not in any of our procedure manuals !!!
    

    Posted 5/31/11

41. No.
    

    Posted 5/31/11

Posted 11/1/10

1. I have been involved with the negotiating process, in many different formats. Strategy and deliberations are discussed in caucuses which are not public. During one negotiation we negotiated in executive session and our town members felt they didn’t know what was going on; currently we are negotiating in public and have only had the public there once. It is a delicate situation either way and should be approached with careful thought.

   Posted 11/29/10

2. I think if it's public money it needs to be transparent. Most of the teachers want these meetings behind doors which I believe its a union way of doing business. This is a union with 5 grade schools and a high school of about 1000 kids. I have heard horror stories from the past of late nights, as this is my first negotiations. We have hired a spokesperson (attorney) with whom guides us through the process to achieve the goals we set. He is also the speaker at the table. I must say that it is very hard to let someone else speak for me. When we started the negotiations we wanted it to be as public as was allowed, so that the public was aware of the progress being made. Having it in the public view can also help to speeds things up.

   Posted 11/29/10

3. I have been involved as school business manager on a number of negotiation teams.

   I also have informed and developed my personal philosophy and social values around negotiations over many years.

   I visited the VSBA website and studied the range of responses to the question about public negotiations.

   With that background, I lean strongly towards negotiations in public. However, there are many concerns that would need to be addressed before I would want to act on that inclination.

   The first concern is to consider how the board should deal with community pressure. Unfortunately, the sqeaky wheel too often gets the grease; the board can be distracted by the loud demands of a minority constituency within the community, so that substantial (and often more important) needs of the "silent majority" go unmet or are given inadequate attention. Action: I would suggest that the board present an article at the next Annual Meeting of the School District proposing that subsequent negotiations be done in public. Let there be a public debate. This would guide the board in understanding the breadth and depth of the interest in negotiating in public, and would also help ensure attendance at such open negotiation meetings, if the community voted in favor of such a proposal. It would be important to provide easy access to the collective bargaining agreements (published on the district's website), to inform the debate on the article.

   My other concerns relate to a large number of aspects of negotiations. Most would require changes in the level of detail in the data that is shared between negotiation teams, and even between each team and its board or association membership! (The latter comment relates to the "special arrangements" made for particular individuals or subgroups.) I believe that there are rational ways to address all these aspects of negotiations, given the political will and moral courage to do so. My experience is that one or both of these two commodities is not always available at any given point in history, especially in small communities where everyone knows everyone and where patterns of interaction may have become set in stone over many years.

   As always, the devil will be in the details.

   In conclusion, I will repeat my strong inclination towards negotiations being conducted in public, but also my caution that the damage from a poorly designed or poorly executed effort could be substantial and could reverberate for years to come.

   Posted 11/29/10

4. Personally, I have never experienced a public negotiation. It is my opinion, however, since these are public dollars and public taxes all general negotiations should take place in a public forum. Sensitive personnel issues should remain in executive session.

   Posted 11/29/10

5. We would probably never consider public participation during negotiations. The negotiation process is always updated to the entire board when necessary in executive session only. It is always discussed as executive session as far as I know according to bargaining agreements. A personal opinion would be "Don't do it.! It could jeopardize any good relations you have with the teachers union." The community elects board members to represent the community & taxpayers.

   Posted 11/29/10

6. My understanding has always been that this would require mutual agreement between board and union - which seems unlikely, particularly from the union side.

   That issue aside, regarding PHILOSOPHY, I think that some form of this would be an excellent idea. It would certainly NOT be a good idea to have the public participate directly - even as simply as registering opinions during such meetings. The public could communicate with the board or union between meetings.

   A possible variant would be simply to have minutes of negotiation meetings made public, or to have RETN record the meetings and air them after the fact, without having the public present at the actual meeting.

   It has always irritated me to not be able to discuss actual proposals while the process was ongoing. I think that public viewing of the sessions, or having available to the public specific content, would go a long way toward minimizing frivolous or outrageous proposals by either side and would go a long way toward lending credibility to the education system in general.

   Negotiations is about the only issue on which we do not seek explicit public participation. Negotiations are the controlling factor in the largest single cost driver (salaries and benefits ) in the system (not to mention a variety of things screaming for reform that NEVER make it to the table). To tell the public that it is not allowed to be knowledgeable on and have input regarding this process is paramount to telling the public that it is not entitled to have meaningful input regarding this single most important cost driver.

   To present to the public the argument that if it does not like the settlement then it should reject the budge only adds insult to injury because NO-ONE believes that this strategy either will work or is a fair way to punish the entire system for a point that is correctable in a much simpler fashion.

   If the legislature wanted to pass a constructive law regarding education - as opposed to fumbling around and bungling almost everything - then a law empowering boards to make the decision re: public or private negotiations would be a good law to pass.

   Posted 11/29/10

7. Our SU doesn't negotiate in public, but I did mention at some point during the conference that I felt our individual district might have been able to reach an agreement with our teachers sooner than the SU did (in closed sessions). A few community members have requested that negotiations be more public, and I look forward to reading the info other members provide.

   Posted 11/29/10

8. I've been on both sides of bargaining tables and I abhor the confidentiality (secrecy) that boards and unions practice. Both parties always argue that "progress (deals) can be brokered better when negotiators can be candid", etc/etc. I have never seen candor at the table!

   The real reasons for secrecy are fear and shame. Negotiators fear that the public and bargainers would be filled with shame if the sausage-making process was viewed by reasonable taxpayers. The hours and months are terrible drains on resources. A few lawyers and VT-NEA prosper.

   Also charged: "Open-meeting negotiating would cause 'pro- and anti-camps'". Well, No, not necessarily...If the teachers and the Board members are reasonable in their "demands", (interesting word, isn't it!) there wouldn't be extreme pro-/con- camps...In 2010, a 7% raise on a 30-60K Grid is extreme, and the VT-NEA shamefully insists that it isn't. In 2010 a Board that demands its teachers pay 25% of insurance premiums is also extreme. Those positions demand secrecy. Reasonable people don't.

   Kindly encourage your members and teachers to consider open-meetings where the Folks can watch.

   Posted 11/4/10

9. A few people can make a mess of things in public...The team, through no fault of their own, can make themselves look real foolish/clueless in a hurry...Once said, words cannot be taken back. Proceed with caution...

   Posted 11/4/10

10. We do not have negotiations in public. We have a committe made of board members. I would encourage with strict ground rules this to be a public negotiation. Maybe it would help the school board side. There are so many things we can't do, the NEA can.

    Posted 11/4/10

11. I am new to the board so this is my first experience with Contract Negotiations. It seems like there are a lot of sensitive issues being discussed, but I know there are people who have the impression that for some reason there is not full transparency by the Board. After going through the process this year, I will be more informed to answer your question next time around.

    Posted 11/4/10

12. You may need to consult a lawyer, specializing in labor law, so that you can do this properly or have a well thought out reason for denying this request. Having never done this, or being aware of examples where this has occured, I would be surprised if the union would be willing to negotiate in public.

    Posted 11/4/10

13. I followed the Burlington open negotiations, and they seemed to work fine. I believe the issue is the public's right to know. The process of negotiating may be embarrassing to some, but it is not a confidentiality issue. Both sides can still meet privately to plan strategy and determine responses, but the presentations and conversations should be held openly. Open negotiations also eliminate the opportunity for distortion and grandstanding.

    Posted 11/3/10

14. I have no experience in this but feel if we are to get support from the public we need to be as transparent as 'possible'.

    Posted 11/3/10

15. The practice in this district has been to hold negotiations in executive session. The caucus function is available to either party as a means of forming a strategy or response before responding to the other party during negotiation sessions.

    Posted 11/3/10

16. My thought on open contract negotiations is NO WAY! I realize that teachers are employees of the towns, however, all of their information is already made public. I feel that opening up negotiations would not be a good experience for anyone involved. Negotiations should continue in executive sessions. There is already enough input from (some) board members who don't really understand the responsibilities of teachers. We don't need more input from the public who aren't involved in education in any way.

    Posted 11/3/10

17. The only experience I have had with bargaining in public was when I was UniServ in NH. The Clarmont custodians always bargained in a restaurant as it helped them to keep their temper. It worked for them I have always opposed it because I feel it is a process that privacy helps. Both sides can be raggedy and it is not publically viewed. I also think it would limit the ability to pass supposals to see where the other side sits. My quick thoughts if I think of something else to say I will email again.

    Posted 11/1/10

18. OMG, I would NOT feel comfortable, with the citizens of our town in the negotiations at all. The feeling of the citizen tax payers is that we as school board members need to cut their pay, and get rid of the highest paid teachers for newbies. This is NOT my feeling however. My town is full of confortational citizens, and with the economy in its current state, would just add fuel to the fire.

    Posted 11/1/10

19. I have negotiated for both the board and the teachers. Ground rules were established that forbad any public announcements about what was going on; proposals from both sides had to be on the table at the second meeting. I would think that involving the public would be a disaster waiting to happen. Rather, the board should know ahead of time, perhaps with public input, what they are able to put on the table.

    Posted 11/1/10

20. We do not do them in public and I do not believe it is such a good idea to release such info out to the public.. Staff should not hear such info!

    Posted 11/1/10

21. This question you ask is funny!! We had the public invited to our last two negotiations and no one showed up!! This time we have invited the local public access station to film the events. The funny part is a couple of years when were concluding the process the newspaper made a comment about us keeping the negotiations secret at a school board meeting. I replied to him, "If you had got off your can you could have attended every session because it was opened to the public." I see no problem with the public invited but you must keep TOTAL control and not let anyone speak from the public at any time!!

    Posted 11/1/10

22. I think public sessions for negotiations should be the norm. We represent the public and they should know how we address contract negotiations.

    Posted 11/1/10

23. I have never conducted negotiations in public but we have discussed it as a negotiating team. The consensus was that it would backfire for the teachers unions.

    Posted 11/1/10

24. I have not conducted public contract negotiations while serving on the school board. I have been part of a negotiation team for my employer. We prepared by reviewing language well in advance of the negotiations and were able to make substantial clarifications prior to the actual negotiations. If the public should be invited, there would have to be strict rules: no input. No voice. The board is the voice of the community. Hope this helps.

    Posted 11/1/10

25. On Conducting public negotiations. Good luck with that. As a board member you are charged with and given the authority to enter into negotiations with the teachers on the public’s behalf. The union will probably meet you with a lawyer and a restraining order if you tried. These are private matters generally held with gag orders on the contents. This is where your leadership and management traits that got you on the board come in. Act in the best interest of the Community and however it shakes out, if you can garner 50% approval you’ve done ok.

    The pro’s? there aren’t any. You will get skewered anyhow. The cons? Meet their lawyer and get back to us will you?

    Editor's Note:Negotiations can and do happen with agreement from both sides prior to the meetings

    Posted 11/1/10

26. I think the puplic should be in the mix it is the only way we can get the public to know how powerful the teacher unions have become.

    Posted 11/1/10

27. Thanks for asking. In my opinion, having teacher - board negotiations open is the right thing to do, as when dealing with public schools we are dealing with public funds. Because of this, and except when dealing with protected categories, most of the communication regarding negotiations and the different positions for each party should be made available to the tax payer. We need to remember that the taxpayer is the one ultimately paying the bill. In addition, by having everything open, the chance of misinformation is minimized, everybody is kept honest, and the opportunity to negotiate in good will is maximized. Finally, having open negotiations, streamlines the communication between the main negotiating parties and the public.

    Posted 11/1/10

28. Windham Northeast Supervisory Union has conducted recent teacher (and support staff) negotiations in open session, and plans to do so this year, as well. In addition, this year the local public access TV channel has said it will be present and will broadcast all of the negotiating sessions. We are looking forward to that, since our experience is that only other teachers tend to attend open sessions, and not even the press seems to have interest in what is going on (unless, of course, some crisis occurs down the road). With TV in the picture, the hope is that more community people and taxpayers will keep track of what is happening, what the teachers are demanding and what the boards are doing to protect the public purse. We have not found that open sessions inhibit any discussion, unless of course, it causes the teachers to be more careful in what they demand. That is not a bad thing. And there is no reason why the presence of a TV camera would change the situation.

    Posted 11/1/10

29. I’ve seen a couple grievances conducted in an open meeting (the association objected), but not negotiations. I think it would be a good idea. You could probably expect the association to object, media to attend, and the public to attend (at least initially). The chair will need to keep good control and eliminate public comment, unless time is set aside for it. I know law allows executive session for negotiations, but not whether it’s required; nor what process would be followed if the association pressed their objection or refused to negotiate in public. The risk is negotiations turning into a circus. It might lessen the twist that the parties’ respective spokespeople put on negotiations.

    Posted 11/1/10

30. I have served on several negotiation committees over the years, all of them in executive session. When everything is civil and there are no major disagreements between the two sides, this method works fine from the board perspective. However, when it is getting down to the end of the contract, there is no agreement, and things are getting contentious, it would be in the school district's best interest to have the negotiations public. Everyone who serves on the school district side of the negotiations, by statute, is required to keep the confidentiality of executive session intact. When we report back to our home boards, we do it in executive session. When the newspaper comes sniffing around for information we have to say "no comment". The union side of the equation can, and usually does, promote their side to the press, to their constituents, and to the public. I feel that if the union negotiating team can keep their constituents ( the teachers) informed of progress in the meetings, the school district should be allowed to do the same with their constituents ( the public) . Since no one knows how long negotiations will last, or if they will come down to the wire, the time to set the rules is in the beginning. Since you can't stop individual teachers from talking to the press after hearing from their negotiating team, the only way to really level the playing field is to decide to negotiate in public from the very start.

    Posted 11/1/10

31. First, conducting an "open" negotiations session is NOT a unilateral decision but has to be agreed to by both sides. Second, contrary to the belief of those who have not been part of the process, deliberations are most often discussed in caucus which are not, generally public nor do I think the VT/NEA would allow the public in their caucus. And three, for the process to proceed, my guess is that a public meeting would only permit negotiation team members to speak. The "public" might sit and listen when both sides are in the process of meeting (discussion) then, perhaps, be able to talk with "their" team during caucus. I'm SURE there are many ways to do it but those are my thoughts.....best to you....

    Posted 11/1/10

32. I personally believe that *all* public business should (must?) Be conducted in view of the public who is paying for it, with the exception of certain personnel issues.

    Posted 11/1/10

33. I would be in favor so long as the meetings were "controlled". I believe it do the public good to attend and witness the work on everyones part to ensure that the best decision is made for all concerned. If time could be set aside for public input, it would be interesting to hear what the public has to say and offer. Who knows, perhaps different insights into the negotiations might prove to be of help.

    Posted 11/1/10

34. Some very good points have been made here. I am always an ardent supporter of transparency in all public business; however, negotiations require a lot of positioning on both sides. The ability to caucus is imperative to both sides. Rather then having open meetings I would prefer to have press releases from both sides stating their current offers that are on the table.

    Posted 11/1/10

Posted 10/12/10

1. First of all, I admit that this is a hard and difficult question to answer. To begin with it is important to understand that most contracts have a provision that provides for the staff to receive a step increase or column movement if there are entitled to that regardless of whether a contract has been settled or not. The building of the salary expense will start with this in mind and will provide for that provision. As for not having the salary expense indicating the monies that are anticipated for settlement, I understand the inference that this suggest dishonesty with the public but I do not share that opinion wholeheartly.

   By dispersing the settlement monies in other line items, I believe this in the best interests of all parties involved and is in the best interests of the public (after all we are charged with overseeing and being fiscally responsible of the budget). By doing this in this manner, I firmly believe that we are providing best practice in the public's interests and keeping that in mind to insure that a reasonable and fair settlement is obtained. If full disclosure was being sought with regards to all the monies available for settlement, then that would put the negotiating team/board in a difficult and unsustainable position.

   Recently there has been a contract settlement that speaks to not having any step movement take place while negotiations are under way or until a contract has been settled. I am not clear on the details nor am I aware if this also restricts any column movement.

   For the most part the public has been understanding when we have been engaged in negotiations. Our response has been that we cannot speak specifically to any dollar amounts or percentage of increase during this process. This has not always been well received, unfortunately there is really no other response that can be given.

   Posted 10/14/10

2. Each strategy mentioned has a downside, but the fact is you must choose. I think you can reduce the most undesired fallout by your individual districts circumstance. For instance, if you are part of a large SU in negotiations, choose option 1. You may be only 1 out of, say, 13. If you are a single district negotiating alone, your issues may be different. In all instances with a decision our board is about to make, I first ask myself what is best for the students, and then I ask myself what is best for my neighbors, the taxpayers - in that order. After all, those are, ultimately, the only people to whom I have to answer.

   Posted 10/13/10

3. You simply renegotiate the contract date so that the contract is settled before you draft your budget. If the NEA refuses to be reasonable you simply impose a contract and fire those that do not report to work. The fines the labor board will levy against the district will be substantial the first year but in the next contract year the district and the students will no longer be held hostage.

   Posted 10/13/10

4. Our district uses an amount which approximates our initial offer - In this past year this was a zero increase. It is possible there will be a small deficit as the result of our settlement but transmitted our resolve regarding our setlement.

   Posted 10/13/10

5. For something like this, I would seek advice from the Superintendent.

   Posted 10/13/10

• If the discussion is following a presentation by an administrator, the board members be restricted to asking questions of the administrator regarding aspects of the presentation.
• If the discussion is about an action the board is contemplating, the board members be restricted by time (much as public discussion may be limited by the chair).
• That board members not be allowed to repeat statements made by themselves, administrators, other board members, or members of the public unless it is to seek or offer clarification.

Posted 12/16/09

Posted 12/16/09

1. I'd suggest that the School Board should at least weigh in with the Selectboard. While they may not have direct jurisdiction over the farmer, I¹d reckon that a push from them would be helpful and certainly be appreciated by the concerned parents. Before the Board did this, however, it would be important to make sure that the concern about the proximity issue is reasonable. Any local experts on this?
   

   Posted 12/16/09

2. This is none of the school's business!
   

   Posted 12/16/09

3. I agree that this issue belongs to the Select Board and not the School Board.
   

   Posted 12/16/09

4. I would contact the health department and determine risk. If none, no action.
   

   Posted 12/16/09

5. I have no experience with this type of situation. I do agree it is on the Select Boards plate. However, I think the school board's role should be to be an advocate for the school children. Or support the Supervisory Union or District Office in that role.
   

   Posted 12/16/09

6. One preliminary question would be the source of the school’s water. If Atrazine is getting or could get into the school’s water supply the Board may have jurisdiction to act (just as a homeowner would if a neighbor polluted the homeowner’s well). A consulting hydrologist might be able to advise re underground water flow. Testing the water might be advisable, under the guidance of a professional who knows Atrazine’s half-life, etc. The School Board has at least the power to raise the question with the State, as anyone would. By the way, Atrazine (a herbicide rather than a pesticide) is controversial, especially as regards its effects as an endocrine disruptor. The EU banned it in 2004. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrazine
   

   Posted 12/16/09

7. I certainly think that the health of the students is school board business. I would start with the Health Dept., the Ag Dept., and the manufacturer of the chemicals applied. Frequently there are setbacks for applications from homes, water sources, etc. I would suggest to the parents that having a single contact with the farmer would be the preferable route. There is nothing that will tick off someone more than a big production/petition, etc. If after you gather your information, there is something to be concerned about, see if someone on the Selectboard or perhaps a parent who is a member of the farming community that can approach the farmer in a non-confrontational way. Friendly is best.
   

   Posted 12/16/09

8. This is an issue, that should be handled at both the Selectboard level, as well as the schoolboard level. I am in hopes, that both the boards work together like in our town, and NOT against each other. You have a safty issue with students, that needs to be addressed by the school board, and an issuse of public safty, that needs to be addressed by the Selectboard. Having said that, I need more information to be able to answer any further.
   

   Posted 12/16/09

9. Before a board, school or select, does anything else it should do it's homework. Atrazine is not a pesticide, it is a herbicide. That doesn't make the chemical any less dangerous, but the argument against using it will be less convincing if the facts aren't accurate right from the beginning.
   

   Posted 12/16/09

10. Stay out of this as it not under the traditional role of a school board in my opinion.
    

    Posted 12/16/09

11. The first thing to do would be to have a discussion with the farmer concerning spraying frequencies, times, etc in a non threatening way. If one was approached in a polite and professional fashion so as to minimize the impact of spraying one would think the farmer would play ball. If one approached the situation in a way that appeared adversarial to the farmer that could develop as a problem. School Boards would have a role in this discussion, in my view point, as the students and faculty are their responsibility. If nothing else the School Board might head off the citizens group and indicate that the Board or a representative of the Board would speak with the farmer. An elected body like the Board that understands the value of orderly participation in affairs and knows the value of establishing a process could be much more effective in the communication than a group of parents that could get very emotional. If the School Board felt the Select Board might be more effective in the communication it is quite likely they would be permitted to have a role.
    

    Posted 12/16/09

12. I believe this should be resolved through Zoning/Select Board. I think the School Board members could voice their opinions as citizens but the School Board should not be involved. I think a bad precedent would be set if the School Board were to try to exercise authority beyond the boundaries of the District's assets (the only exception would be field trips/school functions off premises).
    

    Posted 12/17/09

13. As stated this is an Acceptable Agricultural Practice done by a licensed person. Another point I would like make is anyone of these concerned parents can go to their local hardware store and purchase a can of Round-up (which is a herbicide as well) and spray it around their home without being regulated or licensed.
    

    Posted 12/17/09

14. In my opinion, this type of issue is best dealt with by the school board. The school board has as much authority as a group of parents to deal with a problem such as this and since it has to do with student safety in the school building (or playground), it is definitely the responsibility of the school board to follow up on this. If this happened in our town, I would ask the parents to come to the school board and articulate their concern and position. I would then gather the facts on the chemical and get a government agency such as the State Board of Health to give you a recommendation on how you should proceed. You don't necessarily want the State getting after this farmer, but they should have some guidelines as to the appropriate use of this chemical adjacent to a school. Then with the proper information, the school board should approach the farmer with its concerns. Hopefully, if you have facts to back you up, the farmer will help out, if not then you the route of bringing in a government agency.
    

    Posted 12/17/09

15. I am a school board member and environmental consultant...as to question #1, in my opinion, environmental issues are within the jurisdiction of the board. However the board should rely on sound science (versus emotional responses) in making any decisions or response actions....if I were on this school board I would first look to the state for guidance on this issue, perhaps first by calling the Department of Environmental Conservation in Waterbury. A willing school board member can certainly can get "up to speed" on environmental issues by on-line research (I would suggest using EPA sites or respected sources); here is a good place to start:
    http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/

    Bottom line: environmental exposures are a board concern but let the science dictate your responses...

    Posted 12/18/09

16. It seems wise to first determine if the air and water on school grounds are actually being affected by the activities on the adjacent property. Testing the water should be easy enough. I'm not sure how one actually tests the air. If there is an inexpensive way to test the air on school grounds for the particular chemicals known to be used next door, then that should be done. The school should be careful to consider other possible sources of contamination as well. (For instance, exhaust fumes in the parking lot may be just as detrimental as the fumes coming from next door.) Once a determination has been made, then perhaps the School Board can work with the neighbor and Select Board to create a solution to the problem. Actual risk to students is the first thing that must be determined. If the neighbor can be convinced that the students are actually being affected by their spraying (as opposed to merely having parents up in arms b/c there might be a risk), then that neighbor may be more willing to work cooperatively with the school to solve the problem. Something as simple as a vegetative buffer and considerate spraying times may (or may not) alleviate most of the problems.
    

    Posted 12/18/09

17. I'm more than a little amazed that people who are school board members here -- clearly have not read the laws on responsibilities and duties of school board members. This is not within the school board responsibilities. The Chair should relay the concern to the state. After that, let Vermont Farmers - farm as the law allows.
    

    Posted 12/21/09

18. I will start this response by stating that I am a Certified Pesticide Applicator (and a school board member). I do commercial applications working directly with dairy farmers across the state. I have and will continue to spray herbicide/pesticide on fields that are adjacent to school property. With that said, I/we try to do our best to spray these field after school hours when children are not present. It does not always work out that way, but that is our goal. We are very heavily regulated by the state and the fed. They have imposed rules to protect the people, fish, water and neighboring land. Each and every herbicide/pesticide has a specific and unique label. This label regulates that herbicide specifically. This label is registered with the EPA and they have approved and regulated the use of the herbicide/pesticide. I think all too often people let emotion drive the discussion. I can understand that every parent fears for the safety of there children and as a parent I understand that. I will also tell you I can not count the number of times that I am spraying and or loading my spray truck, when a parent drives over on a 4 wheeler with there child riding with them without a helmet on or they drive over in the family car, low and behold no seat belt or very simply walk over to talk and have there child riding a bicycle without a helmet. The people always want to know what I am doing, what I am applying and if is safe. They apparently do not view there own behavior as risky? I would simply encourage you to call the VT Agency of Ag ask to speak to Jim Leland. He would be the correct person within The Agency to help you with your concerns specific to your situation. He can also tell you what the law states and help you to interpret it. He may also be willing to act as a "friendly" mediator between the board and the farmer. The one thing I think you need to keep in mind is that the farmer is trying only to do his/her part in feeding the world.
    

    Posted 1/01/10

Posted 12/16/09

1. Great idea if the tuition more that covers the cost and the "state" must be kept out of it!
   

   Posted 12/16/09

2. As far as pre-school 10 hour free program....I would need more information.
   

   Posted 12/16/09

3. If offering a day care would be revenue generating, then yes. The idea should be considered if space is available. If there is even the slightest chance it will not generate revenue, then we can not afford that risk at this time.
   

   Posted 12/16/09

4. We looked at this a few years ago as we had the same situation. We approached a high quality local daycare provider to offer space for them to offer a satellite program. It would have been a win/win for us, but we just did not have enough people willing to commit to using the care for it to be worthwhile for the provider. If all you offer is space the money/logistics, etc. are not your headache- just be sure it is a reputable provider -I would always check with your liability insurer first before finalizing any arrangements.
   

   Posted 12/16/09

5. While I have no direct experience with this, I would pursue it with my Superintendent with a serious eye towards offering the full day for two reasons: !) it's good for kids and 2) good for parents.

   Posted 12/16/09

6. Perhaps the easiest solution for the problem of day care could be to arrange with a qualified day care provider a bus or shuttle service, which would be chaperoned with one of the staff members. There is such an arrangement with our elementary school and alleviates the logistical nightmare, with out taking on the additional cost of space requirements or modifications for day care, as well as the administrative costs and potential liabilities. I wouldnt dismiss your idea outright, but I would tend to find an easier solution.

   Posted 12/16/09

7. Regarding pre-school rules, there is a very prescribed process that you will need to go through before you can start counting students as part of your ADM. Here is a link to the statute: http://www.leg.state.vt.us/statutes/fullsection.cfm?Title=16&Chapter=021&Section=00829. The VT Department of Education and DCF have developed rules that will guide your district on starting and/or expanding a program ­ check their website under Œearly education¹ for more information. You should definitley make sure that your superintendent is involved in this process. Good luck!

   Posted 12/16/09

8. Many school's offer before and after school programs that can be subsidized through childcare financial assistance (formerly child care subsidy). Families in Berlin, VT utilize this program and they use the gym for space. If the school has extra classroom space, that would be wonderful. I'd also put a plug in here for Head Start. If a school has about 10 children who qualify for child care financial assistance, the local Head Start program might be able to supply the school system with a staff person to assist. Especially if the hours of the preschool sessions were at least 3 1/2 hours in lenght (the minimum for Head Start regulations).

   Posted 12/16/09

9. Let's not turn our schools into day care facilities any more than they are now.
   

   Posted 12/16/09

10. Although I am in favor of new revenue streams, I have two issues with this. The first would be I am generally not in favor of a government entity competing with private business. This proposal could put many day-care providers out of business (I'm sure some could be used as a vendor of the school system). The second issue would be that I think it possible for the school to get involved into too many scenarios other than the traditional school setting. I realize the question is an example of what would be an natural progression but I am concerned that most (if not all) of our Districts are top heavy at the Adminstration levels (most of it brought on by mandates from the Fed) and I think this scenario might require more supervisory oversight thus potentially adding more expense to the already saddled districts.
    

    Posted 12/17/09

11. You have a Board of Health -- state and/or local -- whose job it is to assure the health and safety of community members (kids). Both the parents' group and other interested groups (town and/or school officials) should begin with the Board of Health and require scientific comment. Avoid "frays". Some folks love them, but Board members should eschew them.

    Posted 12/17/09

12. Most schools are already burdened with too many social-service obligations which detract from teaching-learning missions. Many of our programs accommodate parents who are overwhelmed with parenting. Many institutions may parent better than parents do. But should they? Should schools provide day care at all? It's a social welfare issue. Because schools have accepted responsibilities which once were executed by churches, YMCAs, welfare agencies and others, perhaps we could go go all-out and provide such services on a demand-cost fee scale. An alternative approach would be to require parents to do their jobs instead.

    Posted 12/17/09

13. As far as the feasibility of offering day care, goes, a school would have to be a licensed child care program through the Child Development Division and follow their regulations as to numbers of children per adults, training regulations, etc. Many schools already offer licensed afterschool programs so it would be best to check with the local child care resource development specialist at your county's child care support center (Family Center of Washington County, Lamoille Family Center Child Care Resources, etc.) to learn how to set this up. Revenue for hours past the 10 hours is being collected by schools in different areas of the state already.

    Posted 12/17/09

Posted 11/16/09

1. The agenda is usually set on Tuesday and the packet arrives on Saturday. This allows the Superintendent to develop a set of notes on the items on the agenda to explain those positions to the board.

   Posted 11/30/09

2. VSA T1, C5, §312 require that the draft minutes be available within 5 days. There probably isn't but should be a policy to get the packet out ASAP. The earlier the members get it the better prepared they will be for deliberation. Exceptional clerks will already know this.

   Posted 12/16/09

Posted 11/12/09

1. We area 3 school distrcit - 2 middle schools and a highschool. Until about a year ago, all pricipals and/or assistants attended each meeting and provided a written report to board members; at that time, ina n effort to streamline our meetings to make them more efficient and effective, we forewent the written reports and asked for 5 minute summaries with more information as needed. We rotate meeting sites among the 3 schools and very receintly have asked only the host administrator to attend unless there is a reason for the others to be there - this seems to be working well and alleviates administrators - some of whom leave a distance away (30 +miles) - from having to come out for a meeting unnecessarily.

   Posted 11/16/09

2. MY experience is that they are always welcome and there is an agenda item (report(s) by principal(s) should they have specific information to share. Usually principals forward a written report with the Board's agenda//packet They always attended budget meetings.

   Posted 11/16/09

3. Usually our principals prepare reports for the board. A few years ago we insisted that they prepare these reports enough ahead so that we could see them before the meeting. They typically all attend all the meetings, but it is a loose arrangement. Often they skip a meeting when other issues are pressing either school business or personal. That is fine with the board.

   Posted 11/16/09

4. The building principals do attend and they make formal written reports to the board. They also are available as a resource during board meetings and participate informally. They also attend many of the board's committee meetings.

   Posted 11/16/09

5. We have 3 principals and they all attend our school board meetings. One meeting a month, they each provide a verbal update of events in their building and the other meeting a month, they provide a written calendar of events. We have a great working relationship with our principals so, while their participation is formal in role, it is casual in tone. Personally, I like their perspective on all things and could not imagine having a board meeting without their input and thoughtful comments.

   Posted 11/16/09

6. We operate in a policy governance model and therefore the principals do not come on a regular basis in order to present. They may come from time to time to observe or assist the superintendent if appropriate for the monitoring report. From time to time we may ask them to come if we feel it would be helpful.

   Posted 11/16/09

7. Prior to Policy Governance we did not require attendance by the principals. Under PG we only have one administrator responsible for reporting, the superintendent.

   Posted 11/16/09

8. Whether you are under policy governance or not, the board must not micro manage the principals. Principals should only be present at the request of the superintendent.

   Posted 11/16/09

9. Principals attend, no formal report...they answer questions informally.

   Posted 11/16/09

10. In the Addison Central Supervisory Union, which includes the UD-3 middle and high schools (separate principals) in Middlebury, and seven separate elementary schools and boards, I am pretty sure that principals are NOT required to attend every meeting, but are asked for written reports ahead of a meeting (so as not to take up time with oral reports). Most, however, choose to attend.

    Posted 11/16/09

11. We are a Union school district with two schools - the high school and a regional technical center. We have both principals attend all scheduled meetings. If either one cannot attend, a rep attends.

    I wasn't around when the decision was made to have them attend but I find it very helpful to have them at the meeting. They add value that the superintendent would not be able to duplicate either because he does not know or something might be lost in translation. The principals both provide a report. We get a written report in the org notes then the principal will expand on sections of the report that demand more detail at the meeting. For instance, when NECAP results are available, it is part of the HS principal's report. We know there will be lots of questions so he provides some verbal explanations to go along with the presentation slides in the org notes. He also leaves time for questions on anything in the written report that wasn't covered in the presentation. So I would say that they have a formal role.

    Posted 11/12/09

12. The two building principals do not attend the monthly board meetings. The district leader/principal works directly with the board. He does make a "Principal's Report" each month. This includes information from teachers/grade levels and always art work from some students. At budget time the building principals do attend some meetings if they are presenting their budgets.

    Posted 11/12/09

13. Our principal in our school attends meetings on a regular basis and I believe this happens in other schools also. Our principle gives us a formal report on what is going on within the school, test scores etc. They also give input on hiring of new personnel and upkeep of the school. They pretty much attend all the time. The principals also have their own association that has regular meetings and they attend our larger supervisory union meetings.

    Posted 11/12/09

14. Request one monthly written report, expect one monthly formal report with most being written per principal. Attendance may depend on the agenda items and the frequency of your board meetings. If I were a principal I would want to make sure my lines of communication with my board were open, honest and ongoing.

    Posted 11/12/09

15. Our school is only a PreK to 12 with one principal & one supertendent but.. Our past and present principal does a letter in our board packet prior to the meeting letting us know what is going on. He attends the meetings always and then will report on specific info as needed. The super also writes a little letter to board every time & does his report at the meeting.
    

    Posted 11/12/09

16. When I was the chair I had four principals and I would require one principal a meeting to give a report so they ol yhad to show up once every two months. (meetings bi-monthly) I took the position because of the problems with assults on the staff that the publi not engage with the principals. I made them go through me as chair and as I said only one differnt one showed up every two weeks.

    Posted 11/12/09

17. I would agree with the first answer to this question. The three principals in our district (elementary, middle level, and high school) all have formal roles at our board meetings which include giving regular principal's reports as well as frequent presentations on a variety of topics including curriculum, assessment, budget development, student activities, etc. They often add important perspective for our board on other issues as well. We (the board and the principals) are in agreement that their regular attendance at our meetings is crucial, even if it makes for an extra long work day for them on meeting days.

    Posted 11/12/09

18. We have all of our principals attend all our regular meetings and orally present early in the agenda an update (highlights/lowlights). They stay for questions and collaboration. They also attend most other meetings to be available for questions and collaboration. This is also true of the Director of Early Ed.

    Posted 12/18/09

Posted 11/12/09

1. Under state statute, the Superintendent supervises the principals. I think you should take your comments to the Supt. 16 V.S.A. 244(a).

   Posted 11/16/09

2. This is not a Board duty!! The supt should meet with her/him. This should not be one-sided conversation; maybe a change in culture has some merit.

   Posted 11/16/09

3. I would typically see this as the role of the superintendent, but when it comes to personalities, style, and the established culture, I think that another approach would be acceptable. If a board member has a good personal connection with the principal and a non-threatening discussion can take place, I think that it can be OK for a board member to approach the principal. This person should be authorized by the board to speak on behalf of the board and should not be taken up by a board member on his own innitiative. It hopefully would take place in a relaxed informal setting.

   Posted 11/16/09

4. The superintendent is that principal's supervisor and should address that concern. If the board believes the superintendent needs some prodding to take action, it is appropriate to do so. Otherwise, the new principal is not being given an opportunity to change and the kids and the faculty in his/her school could suffer as a result.

   Posted 11/16/09

5. I don't think a board or member should be dealing with the day to day running of the school. That being said if they do see something they should inform the superintendent and allow him/her to do the job he/she was hired for. Boards have to be careful not to micro manage. They are for oversight not the actual running. The superintendent is the only employee they have direct control over.

   Posted 11/16/09

6. As a policy governance district this is the role of the superintendent.

   Posted 11/16/09

7. I would say give the superintendent the first shot at it and if the situation is not satisfied then the superintendent and board should meet and come up with the next step, Superintendent and Board Chair, single board member and or whole board.

   Posted 11/16/09

8. Whether you are under policy governance or not, the board must not micro manage the principals.

   Posted 11/16/09

9. As a Board, it is your responsibility to make the principal aware of their actions. You can start through the chair and progress from there as necessary (VSBA documentation will help you on this).

   Posted 11/16/09

10. In our district, the superintendent is clear that he supervises principals. Therefore, concerns should probably go through the superintendent. If this is a concern of several board members, they should probably meet with the supt. so it does not appear to be one person's pet peeve.

    Posted 11/16/09

11. We had the exact same problem. Ours was handled discretely by the superintendent as her direct supervisor, and worked out fine. It needs to be addressed asap.

    Posted 11/12/09

12. I think that first you have to determine if this is really a performance issue. If it is, I would definitely go through the superintendent. If the superintendent thinks it is a good idea to speak directly with the principal, then you can approach her directly. However, usually the superintendent will be assigning performance goals and should address any issues if the performance is not meeting expectations. If it is not a performance issue, you might take a more general approach as you first need to make sure if the principal understands the need to maintain the established culture of the school. This may not have ever been stated. Sometimes a principal may think they were hired to make changes. Even if performance is not the issue, I would still go through the superintendent. You need to understand what the super told the principal to do (make changes or maintain culture). The principal may be under different direction than you are assuming.

    Posted 11/12/09

13. By no means should board members approach a principal (or other staff member) as a first step, especially if the issue or concern has the potential to rise to an actionable level. Instead, the board should enter executive session to discuss a personnel matter, and once in session should communicate their concerns to the superintendent. Should the superintendent not be able to obtain satisfactory results, then the board can direct the superintendent in an appropriate direction (formal complaint in personnel file, formal imprivement action plan or termination recommendation). It may seem an overly complicated way of handling it, but as mis-steps can be the basis for wrongful termination or similar suits it is the correct one.

    Posted 11/12/09

14. Don't allow it to fester, don't allow it to become gossip, act directly and expect a direct answer. That being said it can all be done with tact.

    Posted 11/12/09

15. As the immediate supervisor to the principal the superintendant should deliver the constructive criticism or feedback. If needed or desired, the school board can give direction to the superintendant as to the content of the message delivered to the principal.

    Posted 11/12/09

16. If your superintendent has not had any luck addressing your concerns, I would suggest dealing with this issue in an executive session as a personnel matter. It doesn't have to be a reprimand or anything along those lines, but it should probably be somewhat formal in case it turns into a bigger problem down the road.

    Posted 11/12/09

17. You always need to follow policy & procedure when addressing a staff member. If she/he reports to the supertendent it is always appropriate for them to address issue or concern first. It might be called micro managing if a board member gets involved in a personnel matter.

    Posted 11/12/09

18. I would go through the superintendent because he or she evaluations the principals!!

    Posted 11/12/09

Posted 11/12/09

1. Great idea; I have attended many. Be careful with alcohol and driving home.

   Posted 11/16/09

2. We have done this on several occasions. It is our rule not to discuss board business at these meetings as that would be in contradiction of the open meeting law. This is not difficult as the party is our way of connecting as the people we are, other than as board members.

   Posted 11/16/09

3. You have to differentiate between a purely social event and a meeting. Conducting business means you have to abide by the Open Meeting Law. If you want to just gobble burgers and have a good time, that is also OK but it is a different animal.

   Posted 11/16/09

4. Great question! I would think if we followed the rule, ? it would be a Board meeting if there was a quorum in attendanc

   Posted 11/16/09

5. All board meetings should be public, PERIOD!

   Posted 11/16/09

6. I would check with the Secretary of State's office for a clear ruling. I am sure the recommendation is to not hold such a gathering. At a minimum, there should be NO decisions made, and shop talk should be kept to as little as possible.

   Posted 11/16/09

7. I have been on my board for about 10 years and chair for 5 years. Every summer we hold a 'meeting' at my home. I make sure we warn the meeting in the paper and through all the regular official channels. We actually hold a brief meeting, do required business only, and then quickly adjourn to a pot luck dinner and BBQ so Board members, families and friends can enjoy the evening. We certainly don't vote on anything or call the meeting back into session. Our conversation is light, socially focused.

   One year a reporter showed up. I let her in and she quickly got the message that this was a social function. She grabbed a burger, thanked us, and left. I imagine you could get someone hostile that will show up but it would be so out of place that it would destroy their mission, instead of your party. I think the risk of a party crasher is very, very low. Go for it and enjoy! - just make sure if a quorum attends that you warn the meeting.

   Posted 11/12/09

8. I wish to offer the following guidance from past research. I think the person asking the question has very good instincts to question the appropriates of this plan.

   I have long held that retreats and meetings should never be held at private homes because it circumvents the spirit of the open meeting law. Since we are doing the peoples business, we are obligated to hold such meetings at locations that are well known, convenient and comfortable for the public to attend. Holding a public meeting at a private home chills the publics access to such a public meeting and their ability to observe government decision making.

   One of our school districts has in the past held retreats at a board member's private home. I have jokingly threatened to show up at the private home with a bus load of boy scouts interested in observing our democracy in action. I was trying to humorously make the point that the public may not always just be an occasional parent that shows up at a meeting.

   With that said however, according to VT public meeting law experts, a party is not a public meeting unless a quorum is present and "school Business" is discussed. This may be difficult to police but in theory is possible to do without running afoul of the open meeting laws.

   I think that the real question goes to motive. Are you planning a meeting that is disguised as a party and hope to exclude the public from watching you make decisions or are you planning a much needed social activity for relaxation, enjoyment and comradery and would like nothing else to discuss anything but school stuff.

   If it is the later, I think it would be OK with the clear proviso that serious discussion of school business in groups constituting a quorum must be not be permitted and of course absolutely no decisions could be made. It would also be better if more than just school board members were present.

   Ultimately, the integrity of the group will determine if it was a legal or illegal event. Good luck.

   Posted 11/12/09

9. Yes you can but you can not discuss any school business at the party!!!

   Posted 11/12/09

10. The 'Board' cannot hold a party anywhere without inviting the public. If it isn't a warned meeting of the 'Board' you aren't on the 'Board' at the time of the party. Just make sure no discussion takes place that can be construed as taking the place of a meeting. Talk about and invitations to the party should not be conducted or initiated at a board meeting.

    Posted 11/12/09

11. Anytime you have a quorum of Board members together, you need to warn the meeting and allow any interested parties to join the meeting (party). I would personally think twice about going ahead with the party. Even if warned, it places the Board members in an awkward position. I think that normally the Board members' common interest is schools and discussion may drift to schools. Since there is probably not going to be an agenda this really sounds like conducting board business without an open meeting. My opinion is that this is at least a little no, no.

    Posted 11/12/09

Posted 9/14/09

1. PowerSchool. It is still in the process of being fully implemented, soi a critique now would be premature.

   Posted 11/16/09

Posted 9/13/09

1. Bennington does not have a policy on outside business support, but I know Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester has a list of donors that help their school in ALL areas. This list was just published in the local newspaper listing each category and the donor. You may want to check with them.

   Posted 9/28/09

2. I would like to suggest any time there is an investment or partnership in any portion of a school or its programs, there is a clear set of guidelines which are followed.

   Taking a winter sport program, for example, who is ultimately responsible for the costs to the students when that participate in a more costly program like skiing? There should be a clear understanding both to the parents of the students as well as with the organization making the monetary donation which would include exactly what the support is the school is receiving and what the ramifications would be to not have such support from the outside organization / partnership.

   You may also choose to investigate as to whether or not the school board would need to (or should) vote on setting the fee structures which will be set for an athletic program for example. This could be the case for any extra curricular program.

   Posted 11/12/09

Posted 8/28/09

1. The magic words to use are "with the permission of the Board I would like to direct the administration to...." and make sure it is written into the minutes.

   Posted 8/28/09

2. I agree with the "magic words" approach.  It becomes very awkward for the administration if such requests are made outside of a meeting.  Should the full board not want the administration to do the work necessary to fulfill the request, they can say so.

   Posted 9/1/09

3. There are three approaches:
   • Ask the superintendent to provide the information.
   • Ask the board chair to get the information
   • Ask the board to delegate you to ask the question directly (a recorded decision of the board)
   Even if you get the authority of the board to ask questions directly, it is best to go through the superintendent. Going directly to others should only be done by individual members if specifically authorized by the board. This may be necessary when there is a lack of confidence in the superintendent, or when there might be a conflict of interest with the superintendent, and it should be very rare. Individual board memebers bypassing the superintendent undermines the authority of the superintendent and can have a very harmful and divisive effect on the school district as a whole.

   Posted 9/1/09

4. The question seems to imply that getting answers to questions is more difficult for a board member than it is for a member of the taxpaying public.  Is that a fact? This has not been a problem for me in either situation.  The posted answer is very good if the question is something that the board wants to discuss at a future meeting.

   Posted 9/1/09

5. To keep your board meetings effective and your administrators time effectively used, I would suggest that your board and administrator(s) have a discussion around goals, objectives and an effective reporting schedule toward meeting these. Make your case for the reason it is necesary that the board needs the information you want and if it is reasonable it will be on the schedule of reporting.

   Posted 9/14/09



6. If it can wait till your next meeting, ask your board chair to put it on the agenda.

   Posted 9/14/09

Posted 8/28/09

Posted 6/01/09

1. At our middle-high school we have an in-house food service run as a separate enterprise fund. The program consistently runs a profit and even has its own capital fund for equipment replacement. Our award-winning program is very innovative, using farm to school methods, daily salad bars, and a variety of healthy options (sandwich bar, pizza, etc.) in addition to the hot lunch. We were one of the first schools to introduce computerized swipe cards for all students so that payment status is anonymous.
   

   Posted 6/04/09



2. We have had an in house hot lunch program for each of our schools - as it was generating skyrocketing deficits, there was a budgetary "bailout". At that point a nutrition committee was formed, a food service director hired and changes made - both administratively and nutritionaly. Thes changes, in just the past year, have proved vital and viable with far greater participation, a much decreased deficit and promise of the programs being self-sustaining in the near future.

   Posted 6/02/09



3. We provide a hot lunch program for all Winooski students but contract with the Abby for providing this. We use inkind contributions toward our contract such as providing the kitchen, utilities, space and time. They provide food, services, staff, and menu. At the end we get a subsidy from them and for the past couple of years this has worked effectively. All are welcome to come visit and see it in operation. Kids for the most part love it.

   Posted 6/02/09



4. Westminster Schools went to an in house food service a few years ago. I think we subsidize it with $10,000 per year but may have gotten it to a point it is self supporting. It costs us less than when we had an outside provider and the quality is better. Plus, it is somewhat easier to do other food related activities (such as healthy snack program or other food events) with our own in house kitchen. And with the right personnel in the kitchen, you can provide much healthier and local food than usually used by the major food service providers.

   Posted 6/02/09



5. We gave up in-house when the old,quality system was mis-managed and the older,quality employees retired. I do not believe there is any afforable commercial/contract system serving food the customers enjoy. We are regularly looking over the shoulder of the contractor, noticing items not eaten, questioning the students and their parents. We almost feel like we have a lose/lose situation which turns into a partial win since many of our kids need some form of nutrition other than chips and soda found at home.

   Posted 6/02/09



6. We run our own food service program, and expect it to be self-supporting except that we have decided it is fair for school's general fund to subsidize the meal program for the free and reduced meal costs that are above what is reimbursed by the federal government. We felt that it was not fair for meal prices to be set higher than the actual average cost of the meals, so that non-free and reduced meals were subsidizing the free and reduced ones. Asking taxpayers to cover this subsidy through the general fund seemed the fairest solution.

   Posted 6/01/09



7. We had an in house lunch program until three years ago and went with the Abbey Group. When we had our own program we lost between $2,500 and $4,000 per year which we made up in the budget. We are inclined to go back to this system as we are not satisfied with the new provider and would rather spend out of the budget than be at the mercy of an outside contractor.

   Posted 6/01/09

Posted 6/01/09

1. I am a school director for Wilmington. Currently I am the chairman of the facilities committee that has been struggling to find a solution for our aging facility. We currently have a joint contract with the neighboring town of Whitingham to operate the middle school and high school. But the simple fact is with declining enrollment, increased maintenance costs and the cost of repairs for three school buildings we need to look at further collaboration on the k-12 level to lower operating costs and to lose a building.

   Without a doubt it is a struggle to find cooperative engagement between towns and I don't see the supervisory union as the agent or catalyst to mediate or encourage this. I posed this very question to the Commissioner of Education last week and was disappointed with the response. It does not appear that the state is willing to take leadership to foster cooperation and school consolidation beyond the level of financial penalties and the associated fiscal asphyxiation.

   I would like to see districts that are in similar straights to petition the state to take a leadership roll in this matter and to offer financial incentives to do so-after all it would save money in educational funding. But frankly the small towns that are confronted with these problems don't appear to have the political clout in representatives and senators to bring about this change. Perhaps if there were several districts that could present a pattern of cases in which this leadership is necessary they would be more willing to play a stronger role in cross district mergers.

   It is not lost that the previous commissioner attempted to bring about consolidation on the supervisory level and was met with resistance.

   Perhaps the best case that I can make for your neighboring town is the financial future of the federal and state government. We are not feeling it yet, but the reality is that our governments are financially bankrupt and it only waits the time (which is coming) when foreign governments are no longer willing to finance our debt. Keep in mind our President has admitted that the current budgets are unsustainable. When that time comes a lot of federal and state assistance is going to dry up. How is that going to effect our school budgets going forward? The reality is that smaller (and larger) schools are going to need to be more efficient and cost effective than ever before and it makes a lot of sense looking to that future now rather than wait when the money is even tighter.

   6/02/09

2. We do not have any experience here in Winooski with cross-district mergers however I would only venture a guess that if you work the details starting with joint advantages and working down to transportation and special ed you might just come up with a solution. From an economic standpoint as well as efficiencey motive might just work.

   6/02/09

3. It is surprising how many situation's solutions are thwarted by the very rules put in place to alleviate these problems. Perhaps when casting laws in concrete - a slow curing cement should be used. We have allowed too many governmental rules to eliminate clear thinking, flexibility and common sense.

   6/01/09

4. Petition the State to move your School District to another District Supervisory Union. If the State is serious about containing costs this should not take them long to agree.
   

   11/12/09

Posted 5/27/09

1. We have conducted joint negotiations as a group of boards/districts several times in our SU, and have agreed to split the legal costs equally since the process (and hence cost) of negotiations is pretty independent of the size of the school. Although we are very different sized schools, we work as a group of representatives from each district, and each district has equal weight in the decision making, plus we all save costs by working together. This has allowed us to spend more for legal assistance and carry out more informed bargaining for the Boards.

   6/1/09

2. In Washington Central, we pro-rate the costs based on each school's ADM.

   6/1/09

3. The legal fees etc for CESU negotiations are part of the CESU budget and are part of the assessment.

   6/1/09

4. We are actually engaged in negotiations in a setting like that. The negotiations that we are engaged in is 3 members being engaged all at once but the contracts are separate and recognized as such. The costs are borne and distributed in an equal fashion amongst the individual school districts. This is actually the third time we have approached the contracts and for the most part it is working well. The savings to the individual districts are realized thru actual time and monies spent. Rather than have each district met individually, we are meeting in a collective fashion. The individual contracts are discussed individually but in a group setting. Each district has its individual teams.

   In closing the costs are borne in an equal fashion amongst the districts.
   

   6/1/09

5. The legal costs are budgeted at the individual district level. When a legal bill comes in for negotiations, HR codes it to reflect what portion should be pro-rated to which districts. Then, we pay the costs at the SU level and bill the respective districts for their portion.

   5/28/09

6. We pay for these costs in the supervisory union budget and therefore our schools pay their share through their assessment which we base on equalized pupils.

   5/28/09

7. I have been through four different three year contracts and we pay using Supervisory Budget The separate districts pick the cost up the following year.
   

   5/28/09

8. Prorated by student count...same as our costs to support the supervisory union system.

   5/28/09

9. We treat this like any other SU expense - we split the costs using the same formula used for allocating other central office cost. In our case each district pays according to their ADM percentage of the total SU students.

   5/28/09

10. In Winooski's situation we are an independent school district so we pay the entire bill. When I was with another supervisory union we split the legal fees based on the amount of support, in dollars, paid into the supervisory union by each school district within that union. Hope this helps.

    5/28/09

11. In our district these expenses are in the Supervisory Union central office account and so they are shared as all those expense are on at average daily member per pupil cost basis.

    5/27/09

12. SU pays and allocates by ADM

    5/27/09

13. We have 6 schools in our district and we split the cost evenly. We felt like proportional didn't make sense in this case.

    5/27/09

14. All fees and costs should be covered in the SU individual district assessment which depends on what portion of the total SU cost a district pays.

    5/27/09

15. Legal fees and sundry other related expenses arising from the current negotiation debacle at OESU are being paid for using the same method other OESU expenses are divided amongst the SU member schools. We use each school's FTE count to establish what each school owes.

    9/14/09

Posted 3/24/09

1. We have a combined school-community library and the community members use the library during the day along with our students. Community members use the computers for e-mail, research, etc. and follow the school poliicy for usage. The computers in the library have blocked programs. We do have a separate computer in a private area for any community member to use that does not have blocked programs. Since this has been installed it has been used once in four years.

   6/1/09

Posted 3/24/09

1. As a Policy Governance Board, the role of chair is clearly defined IN POLICY. The Board then reviews the chair's performance on a regular basis against the policy. The Board, then, holds the chair and the Board accountable for their own work. May contact me through VSBA for more information.

   Posted 3/30/09

2. At our recent board reorganization meeting, we reviewed and discussed the roles and responsibilities of the chair using the power point that VSBA has on their web site as a guide. In addition, you should reference state statute. It would be a beneficial exercise for all boards to take some time to review it as a group.

   Posted 3/25/09

3. Check the 'Vermont School Board Resource Directory' page 99

   Posted 3/24/09

4. Some versions of RRO offer suggestions but must are mute on the subject. The Chair should primarily be nothing more than a facilitator. However it is advantageous to allow him/her to make motions and vote on the questions. When he chooses to participate in debate he should pass the gavel to the Vice Chair.

   Posted 3/24/09

5. Board chairs have only one clear duty--running board meetings. There is no assignment of other duties to chairs in state law. So the answer to your question is that it depends on whether the board has given authority to act in certain situations. It is not uncommon for boards to delegate certain duties to chairs; working with the administration on agenda preparation, serving as the spokesperson for the board or appointing committee members. But in the absence of a board assignment, through a bylaw, policy or other specific action taken by the board, the chair's only duty is to preside at board meetings through the application of Roberts Rules of Order.

   Posted 3/24/09

6. Must reading for all board chairs.School Board Chair: A Key Leadership Role. Pages 99 & 100 of the Vermont School Board Resource Directory (2008-2011 edition).

   Posted 3/24/09

Posted 3/24/09

1. As a Policy Governance Board, the roles and responsibilities of board members are clearly laid out IN POLICY. It is then up to the entire board to review their work on a regular basis, sometimes at each meeting, to ensure that all members are in compliance with board policies. It is also a good idea to have a well thought out and presented orientation for new board members so that they know from the beginning what is expected in terms of working with other board members, working with the system, and how effective meetings take place. May contact me through VSBA for more information.

   Posted 3/30/09

2. Boards should be in the habit of self-monitoring their interactions. This member's question raises a few clarifying questions: Is there a link between the ethics violation and a board approved policy or state statute? Is the friction board member to board member due to a difference of opinion over an educational issue in the board's purview? I would suggest the board review the roles of the chair in state statute and on the VSBA web site and have a frank discussion about the qualifications of the current chair. It may turn out to be a personality clash. It is important to clear the air and move forward on the important work of the board.

   Posted 3/25/09

3. At one time we too had a rogue board member and he was out of control with the other board members as well as audience members and he was chair. Yikes what a negative image we had. It was recommended to us to have all board members agree to an ethical code of conduct. The majority of the board can approve it and every board member can sign it. It can state what behaviors are acceptable and other guidelines concerning meeting behavior. It should be posted not only for the board members but for the public as well. If done at an open meeting you might be able to shame the rogue into following the better behavior model approved by your board. Good luck and I am glad our member was not reelected. You can only hope the same will happen for you.

   Posted 3/24/09

4. Great answer in the March 'Boardroom' page 14

   Posted 3/24/09

5. Treat him/her as you wish to be treated. Independent thinkers are too often labeled as “Rogues”. If you take the high ground you will always prevail.

   Posted 3/24/09

6. Please see a recent VSBA newsletter article in the March addition of From The Boardroom

   Posted 3/24/09

7. First, Do not vote this person as CHAIR.

   Posted 3/24/09

Posted 3/18/09

1. My thought on this is that kids have their own e-mail accounts. Giving them a school account gives the school the opportunity to teach them about using their e-mail responsibly (and pulling accounts from those who do not). I would think that this is an educational opportunity that the school should not miss. It would be a shame to leave the culture and education around e-mailing to other kids when adults can influence the process in a positive way. As with many things like this, kids want us to lead them with reasoned and reasonable authority that they can trust. They do not want to have powers that they are not prepared to exercise well. They rely on us to set limits as they will do when they are adults.

   Posted 4/9/09

2. Why is this a Board issue? I would think that this is an administrative issue better resolved by the Superintendent and Principal. The Board should have a policy concerning student outcomes of which learning to use email may be appropriate and policies concerning safety of staff and students, bullying, etc., to which the Superintendent is responsible. The Board's job is to hold the Superintendent accountable for the performance of the school. In other words, the Board should see that the school is well run, not run the school.

   Posted 3/30/09

3. I believe that a child with an e-mail account would need CLOSE supervision. There are links that appear, outside of the body of an e-mail, in the most innocent of exchanges. One click, and that child could be directed to inappropriate, harmful information. In addition, I think that the person who posted this question has their answer when they speak to their apprehension due to cyber bullying, hate mail, not to mention sexual predators. I think an e-mail account, for a minor, should be monitored by a parent or guardian. I understand that our children have a right to their privacy. It is up to us, as parents, to ensure there are parameters in place to ensure their safety. Last August, I was, with my son by my side, looking up a candy shop in Maine. I googled the name of the business, was directed to a link for their website, and clicked on it. What came up was a pornographic pic of a woman! I was trying to plan a fun stop where my son could watch salt water taffy being made!!!

   Posted 3/25/09

4. Although there are certainly benefits, it might be that we are already in enough battles without taking on this one?

   Posted 3/24/09

5. It is our responsibility as school board members to consider equity and the perspective of student growth and development.
   • Do all students have equal access to email elsewhere?
   • Do all students have internet access at home?
   • Do all students have the opportunity to learn how to effectively email others?
   • Can email aid students in research? How else might email contribute to students' study?
   • Might school-place email train students in proper protocol for workplace email access?
   • Are we preparing students for this technological global communication?
   • Are we truly assessing the value of email to students' academic development?

   Posted 3/24/09

6. I am doing some work in a Chittenden County high school and decided to ask some faculty members about this, just out of curiosity. At this school students do have email accounts and it appears to cause no significant issues. As a previous responder mentioned, protocols and good IT staff are helpful in making this work.

   Posted 3/24/09

7. Our School policy states that students may be provided e-mail accounts under special circumstances, at the requests of their teachers and with approval of their parents. these accounts will be of limited duration. Students and their parents must sign an e-mail Account Agreement to be granted district provided email accounts on the school's network.

   Posted 3/23/09

8. As much as I would like to give our kids more freedom in becoming responsible adults and allowing the e-mail in school, I think that I must not agree. I believe time in school is to learn and time to interact face to face with people. Maybe we are losing some of our personal touch with all our computer things. I have my work computer and have to wait to get home to my home computer for personal e-mails. I do not expect my employer to pay me for spending personal time on my e-mails, as I would not like kids to spend time on their e-mails at school. After school is a time for that.

   Posted 3/23/09

9. St Johnsbury has been using student e-mail accounts for several years now. We use a provider called Gaggle.net. It can be a free service, but we purchase a subscription to eliminate ads, and we can use our own @stjsd.gaggle.net domain. The service provides a safe email environment for students. We control the kind of access they can have. Currently we only allow our students to email to other students in our district or to our teachers. All other emails incoming and outgoing get blocked by Gaggle. We can add specific outside domains or specific email accounts to allow for periods of time for student projects. There is also a content filter that blocks inappropriate language or images from being exchanged. If an email is blocked, it is instead to the e-mail administrator. They view the email, and can unblock it for release or delete it. If it looks like bullying or other significant language they pass it along to the student support team to deal with the student. They can also disable accounts if needed. Students cannot permanently delete their messages, sent or received. They appear deleted to the student but actually are archived by Gaggle and can be viewed by the administrator. As a result student accounts don't get spammed from the outside. Only each other, but that too is restricted.

   We use student e-mail for students in grades 3-8, but we are finding that the grade 3 students are not mature enough yet. The VT Tech Standards set by the Dept of Education recommend that students have email and learn the associated skills.

   The accounts also allow students to upload files to an on-line storage space that they can then access from home or the library. So we are eliminating floppy disks and thumb drive hassles.

   All that being said, and I will still endorse Gaggle net and their services, we are moving everything next year to SharpShool, which provides similar services but is more integrated into their web hosting services. How that turns out has yet to be determined.

   Posted 3/20/09

10. Browns River Middle School in Jericho has student email accounts. I believe they have protocols which heavily filter the emails or restrict senders to those selected by the student. Member might get in touch with administration there to find out more.

    Posted 3/18/09

11. Mount Mansfield Union High School as well as middle schools in Chittenden East all have student email accounts. I know Essex High school and probably most other middle and high schools in Chittenden County have student email accounts. A good IT department and Administrative leaders will educate students about rights and responsibilities and can often trace/see all emails. I think on one hand the students are so savvy about it that they use other technology for those negative purposes.

    Posted 3/18/09

12. You should be apprehensive about this. Why should schools get involved with student e-mail accounts? Your concerns listed in 1. below, are real and merely the tip of the iceberg. Are the high schools willing to be responsible for the students e-mail activity? What sort of "oversight" or "control" would the schools have. Could there be now unforeseen liabilities? Once again SCHOOLS are usurping parents domain.

    Will parental consent be necessary? What guarantees will you promise if such approval is given? What is the financial cost?

    I have been watching a teenager who is entering High School next year. Not an easy task. I can not see why the School Community should volunteer for such responsibility.

    Posted 3/18/09

13. We tried student e-mail accounts two years ago at our Middle School. We offered close to 600 students email accounts that are filtered for content in area of language and attachments. We offered this through a website service called SchoolCenter. Classroom teachers were assigned as administrators of their classes and would get an email message from SchoolCenter when one of their students sent inappropriate information.

    At most, 40 students who participated, and usage dropped off to practically none over the course of a few months.

    When we inquired as to why we found several reasons:

    • Student don't use email, they prefer to text message
    • Those that do, use email accounts through Google, Yahoo Mail or Hot Mail (even though we block these on our network)
    • They prefer to email from home
    • Teachers were reluctant to setup accounts because of managing the issues
    • Students were not pleased with the filtering

    Posted 3/18/09

14. While we don't have a high school in our district, I think offering school e-mail accounts may give you more 'control' over cyberbullying and hate mail. As with any privilege, if abused can be taken away. One solution may be; If a student wishes to have a school email they must agree to not participate in cyber-bulling/hate mail and if found to report it.

    Posted 3/18/09

15. This answer is based on my experience as a parent more than as a board member. My kids have attended two schools that allow students to have school email accounts: Hinesburg Community School (K-8) and Vermont Commons School (7-9). I have been very satisfied with my children's experiences with the school email systems which they could access from home or campus.

    Considering the ready availability of free email accounts such as gmail or yahoo, I believe concerns about cyberbullying and other abuse are already present, and that a school-based system offers more supervision and control. I am aware of one situation where one of my child's classmates was misusing the school email and was shut down. That likely would not have happened had the child been using a free email account unattached to the school.

    Posted 3/18/09

16. I am not on the high school board, but with the examples of bullying in the schools as a result of things being posted on the internet (Facebook, YouTube) and lawyers/advocates trying to push responsibility of these incidents onto the schools, I feel it is asking for trouble to have a school provided email for students. There would be clear cut responsibility for what takes place in those accounts and the schools would certainly been seen as the responsible party for any adverse incidents resulting from the use of the email. I guess I am just cautious, but I would fall on the side of not expanding exposure for the school in this way.

    If the argument for giving email accounts is that teachers/the school can communicate easier with students (homework assignments or other such things) I again fall on the conservative side of this. Human, face to face, contact is more effective than email.

    Posted 3/18/09

17. I think that allowing students to have school e-mail accounts is a very bad idea. It will only interfere with study time and do nothing to improve NECAP and SAT scores. Let's get back to basics.

    Posted 3/18/09

18. I am a board member at Otter Valley Union High School in Brandon. Since student can set up their own free email accounts (Yahoo, etc) and can access them at school I really don't see the reason for the school to be in the position of having these account on the school's account.

    Posted 3/18/09

19. I know Woodsville High School in New Hampshire has email accounts for students.

    Posted 3/18/09

20. I do not agree with email in the schools as I believe this is one more distraction to the students and teachers. We already give the students to many options with fun in school they are there to learn not to play!!

    Posted 3/19/09

Posted 1/08/09

1. We are a "peanut aware" school. It is in our handbook and we send the information home to parents at the beginning of the year.

   Posted 1/12/09

2. There are no policies or procedures of which I am aware or that I can locate about nut allergies.

   Posted 1/12/09

3. For allergies in schools see Vermont act 158. there should be broad policies and individual plans based on age and type of school. High schools would need less intervention/supervision of the allergy as those students are expected to have the knowledge and ability to self regulate. Of course by law any parent can ASK for a 504 based on food allergies.

   Posted 1/12/09

4. We have a new policy in place regarding food allergies which was really important since we had a student entering this year with a severe nut allergy.

   Posted 1/12/09

5. We have a general "Allergy Accommodation Policy" that states that the school shall make every reasonable effort to accommodate children with allergies. Then we have procedures that remain in effect as long as the child with the allergy is in the school. Currently, we only have a "No Nut Products" procedure because we have one small child with an acute nut allergy. It specifies that no nuts or nut products are allowed in the classroom where the child is. As the child moves up the grades and from classroom to classroom, the "no-nut" classroom changes to follow the child. Other children in the classroom may not bring nut products into the classroom (e.g. birthday treats to share). Children ARE allowed to bring nut products as part of their own lunch, but may not sit at the same lunch table as the child with the allergy (in fact, the nut products are consumed in the kitchen, not in the main lunch room (our gym). All lunch tables and other surfaces are cleaned to remove traces of nuts. All school-prepared lunches are nut-free (we use "sunbutter" made of sunflower seeds rather than peanut butter). No problems after one and a half years of this procedure being in place.

   Posted 1/09/09

6. We have no policy on this (I am on the policy committee). Each teacher keeps close tabs on what is happening in their classroom. We are a small school so this works OK for us. For a larger school something more may need to be done.

   Posted 1/09/09

7. No!

   Posted 1/09/09

8. Shrewsbury does not have an explicit nut allergy policy. We have not had a severe allergy to deal with yet although one could crop up at any moment. Staff and volunteers (who may be providing snacks) are made aware of any classroom allergies and act accordingly.

   Posted 1/09/09

9. My understanding is that allergies do not fall under the ADA or other federal or state law as a "disability" or "disease". The burden, in other words, is on the allergic person to avoid the known hazard and for the school to make that possible. Generally the steps taken would be the least restrictive option rather than the most prescriptive and extreme. Some examples: At the elementary school, the cafeteria has a "nut-free" table available to children, but children's lunch bags are not monitored. They serve peanut butter, but avoid "decorative" nuts, like on desserts. When parents provide food, they are encouraged to avoid nuts, but the allergic child is also encouraged to have some "safe" snacks since it would be unreasonable to expect another parent to make something different for them. If a teacher uses food "props" in a math exercise, consider substituting wooden blocks. At the high school, the health office is aware allergies, in case of a problem, but I don't think anyone else would need to be involved. These decisions are made by the principal, not the board. By the way, my child has a nut allergy, and I absolutely do not expect, or want, the school to change or implement any procedures or policies that would effect the way that the school, or other families, shopped, prepared, or served food whether for daily lunch, FACS, or birthday treats. As a parent, I accept the responsibility for teaching my child what is definitely okay, what may be okay, and what is never okay in this situation, as in so many others.

   Posted 1/09/09

10. This is not a policy matter. It's a health issue handled by administration. Don't know all steps taken, but I know some classrooms have notices posted on the doorframe, stating the allergy. Undoubtedly there is more are in place (antidotes, emergency response, etc.). I suggest your administrator find out what other principals or school nurses do.

    Posted 1/09/09

11. Last year the Waterville Central School had a child with severe allergies, there were written policies and notices to families. They can be contacted at 802-644-2224.
    

    Posted 1/09/09

12. Nut allergies are not a problem for our school because we are a small school!!! Something that works out very well in small schools because everyone knows what students are allergic and staff, faculty, parents, administrators and fellow students look out for those students. Small schools tend to have a family atmosphere about them so the students don't get lost. I suspect in larger schools you would need something more definitive than assuming everyone in the building knows or for that matter cares.

    Posted 1/09/09

13. We have 2 children with nut allergies in our school. Our policy is that the classrooms where those children are present are nut-free (so if the child is in 2nd grade, the two 1-2 classrooms are nut-free). All other classrooms are not necessarily nut-free. Our kitchen is completely nut-free and all the tables in the lunchroom are nut-free with one exception, so that if a child brings a peanut butter sandwich for lunch, they must eat at the nut table (as opposed to stigmatizing the nut-free kids). This policy seems to work well for us and there have been no issues.
    That said, I must say that I have found the extent to which some of nut-free restrictions have been enforced is overly burdensome. An example: a child who brings a mylar-wrapped cereal bar that does not have nuts in the ingredient list but that is made in a facility which processes nuts, and who does not eat or even unwrap that bar, but leaves it in her lunch box, will be asked to remove the bar from the classroom and keep it in a special bin in the gym, to be retrieved later. This type of caution I believe is excessive and also disrespectful to both the kids with the snack and the kids with the allergies. I believe children are naturally good-willed and want to do the right thing, and I also believe children can take care of themselves if given the credit to do so. If all the children are educated on the potential harms that can come from sharing snacks and asked not to open potentially problematic snacks in the classroom, then they will honor that request. There is no need to be dogmatic about it.

    Posted 1/09/09

14. At our pre-K - 6 elementary school of approx 150 students, the principal and classroom teachers handle nut allergies. If there is a child in a classroom who has a nut allergy, all students/families in that classroom are required to not bring in any foods with nuts, or that may have been processed with nuts. In the lunch room, there is a designated "nut free" table. Obviously any children with nut allergies sit there, but any other student may sit there as well, provided s/he has a completely nut free lunch.

    Posted 1/09/09

15. We have had children with nut allergies in our school. The administration handled the situation based on the recommendations from health experts. It was a change for families but they were understanding about it.

    Posted 1/09/09

16. Neshobe has created a nut-free zone - a wing of the building (including several classrooms) that is identified as such with signage. This was developed specifically because a/some students in that wing have severe allergies. Students and parents are informed of this procedure in letters home from the teacher and in the school monthly newsletter. Students are advised not to bring nut-related snacks for morning snacktime (in the classroom).
    At the cafeteria, there is a nut-free table for those with allergies. This allows students with preferences toward nut-related foods in their lunch to still enjoy them away from those affected by allergies. Children are reminded to wash themselves carefully if they have been in contact with such foods before reentering the classroom.
    This has worked well, as far as I know, and is deemed a lesson in respect for others. Kids have assumed the responsibility of caring for the classmates with pride (again, as far as I know I know my daughter takes it very seriously and haven't heard anything otherwise during SB meetings.)

    Posted 1/09/09

17. Class rooms with kids who are allergic are nut-free, as are multi-purpose rooms. In the lunch room there is a separate table IF you have peanut lunch.

    Posted 1/08/09

Posted 4/22/08

1. Our high school has 2 principals. A third is proposed to be cut in the upcoming budget. Our middle school and elementary schools (200-300 students) each have a principal. The middle school also has a dean of students.

   Posted 1/14/09

2. We have a principal, and two assistant principals. ONe of the assistant principal is the Director of Special Services and the other handles discipline and testing (SAT, etc)
   

   Posted 1/12/09

3. BUHS has 1 principal and 3 assistant principals for 990 students. BAMS has 1 principal and 1 assistant principal for 287 students.

   Posted 1/12/09

4. We have four buildings for our pre-K through 12 school and have a principal in each location although our enrollments are small (under 100 at one elementary school, around 120 or so at another elementary school, around 100 at our middle school and 170 or so at the high school.

   Posted 1/12/09

5. Enrollment is currently about 140, with new students expected this month. 1 principal, and faculty rotate annually being the back up when the principal is out of the school. We compensate that faculty member with a small bonus.

   Posted 1/08/09

6. We have on principal for an elementary school of about 240 children.

   Posted 1/09/09

7. Our school has on average 325 kids with 1 principal and 1 vice principal.

   Posted 1/09/09

8. We have an enrollment of 53 (pre-K through 6), and one principal who also teaches math to two grades.

   Posted 1/09/09

9. 1 Principal and 1 Vice Principal

   Posted 1/09/09

10. One Principle, small school, 108 students

    Posted 1/09/09

11. Shrewsbury has a .7 Principal with .3 teaching responsibilities. We have a student body of 68, at the moment. We are a preK-6 school. Personally I would prefer to have a full-time Principal, but budgeting has not allowed that in recent years.
    

    Posted 1/09/09

12. We have 1 Principal and 1 Business Officer (top professional level Human Resources and financial background). It is a successful and cost-effective partnership. Our elementary school has about 220 students, pre-K thru 6th grade.

    Posted 1/09/09

13. The high school has a principal and a vice principal, as does the middle school.

    Posted 1/09/09

14. Fair Haven Union High School has two administrators; Principal and Vice Principal. Our enrollment is around 550 students.

    Posted 1/09/09

Posted 4/21/08

1. Strictly administrative issue. Has never come to board. Although busing, which is also an administrative responsible, has been a recent and frequent topic at board meetings.

   Posted 1/14/09

2. We work on a regional calendar. It includes 4 possible snow days with makeup days at the end of the year if needed.

   Posted 1/12/09

3. The board and administration work together to determine the calendar and what to do about making up days.

   Posted 1/12/09

4. Changes in the calendar are done by recommendation of the administration to the school board. The board votes on whether to agree. (The board also approves the original calendar.)

   Posted 1/09/09

5. We are tied in with two other districts Brattleboro and Springfield so the govern our schedule !!

   Posted 1/09/09

6. Administration (principal) makes these decisions, he usually runs them by the School Board but he is trusted to do the right thing.

   Posted 1/09/09

7. State mandates the number of days required; Administration figures it out in collaboration with other schools in our SU (bussing). Not a board issue.

   Posted 1/09/09

8. In our SU we have a SU calendar. However, snow days are determined by each district and how they are made up is determined by the Principals.

   Posted 1/09/09

9. We’ve had discussions about snow day policies and make-up days, but I’ve not been involved with calendar decisions in my 2 years on the board.

   Posted 1/09/09

Posted 3/21/08

1. We have an agreement that every e-mail communication by any Board member (in the capacity as a Board member) is copied to every other Board member, and usually the superintendent as well.
   

   Posted 1/12/09

2. There are four concerns to keep in mind when sending emails to administrators or other board members:
   • Always keep the chair in the loop. Copy the chair on the email or discuss the issue with her/him by telephone beforehand. The latter is a good option for a new board member. The issue may have been considered previously, or the chair may intend to address the issue at a future board meeting.
   • Never include executive session material such as information or complaints about individual school staff members or students in an email.
   • Never include the majority of board members on an email that might influence future board action (include yourself in the count). This can be construed as holding a board discussion by email and violating the open meeting law. A good criterion is to ask yourself whether voters would be upset if your emails were published in the local newspaper. A Vermont court case is currently examining whether or not there was a violation of the open meeting law by emails between school board members prior to a close special election.
   • It is acceptable to include all board members and administrators on a purely factual email, announcement, requests or questions. Examples: schedule changes, documents for reference, meeting minutes, financial statements. These materials are public records and are sent by email for the convenience of board members or administrators.

   Posted 1/12/09

3. As a supervisory union with a superintendent, we email to the superintendent. The superintendent will communicate with the administrator if necessary. We do not include the chair as a rule. However it does depend on the type of communication and reason. The goal is to do most of the communication in open meetings to avoid misunderstandings.

   Posted 1/12/09

4. We encourage board members to include the chair in anything other than a routine request like "can I get a copy of..." - those kinds of things.

   Posted 1/12/09

5. The times that I have emailed an administrator solely has been when I am expressing my appreciations and gratitude for their efforts. If I had a more political question or comment, I would cc the entire board. I am assuming that this is what the other board members do as well.

   Posted 1/08/09

6. We ask that board members communicate with the administration through the chair.

   Posted 1/09/09

7. I feel comfortable corresponding either way. I have a personable relationship with all involved, so would feel it a matter of duty to keep others informed of important situations, but am just as comfortable contacting the administrators (Principal and VP) individually and/or personally.

   Posted 1/09/09

8. Any e-mail I do the Super gets a copy and the Chair
   

   Posted 1/09/09

9. Email is done directly with administrators with the chair generally copied in as a courtesy especially if the question or discussion will impact or come up at a meeting. However if we are talking directly with an administrator about something we do not understand then generally the chair is not copied in.

   Posted 1/09/09

10. We are have a small school in a very tight knit community. Contacting the principal directly is not a problem for us, we have a great relationship.
    BUT E-Mail must be done cautiously and nothing personal (especially student information) should ever be put in E-Mail to anyone. In a legal situation, I have been told (by a lawyer) that computers can be confiscated (even your computer at work if you use that for School Board communications). As a rule, we use E-Mail a lot but never to discuss anything personal, sensitive, confidential or controversial.

    Posted 1/09/09

11. As with any communication in the schools and boards, the chain of command is a good rule to follow. As a board member, your connection to the Administration is thru your chair. The Super can get pretty harried if all board members call/email directly. The thing is that your communication may be something that should be brought up at a meeting because others may have the same question/concern/etc. or it may be something the chair can handle directly.
    

    Posted 1/09/09

12. Board communication by email is questions/concerns only with our administrator. Any directives happen either at our meetings or through the Board Chair.
    

    Posted 1/09/09

13. We have no formal policy, but we are wary of any emails that go to all board members about something we eventually may take action on. If a majority of the board were to reply "yes" or "no" to a suggested action, we might be conducting an electronic meeting. This is illegal unless warned as required by the state Sunshine Statute. If everything had to go through the board chair, who then presumably would copy everyone, wouldn't that at least slightly increase the chance of an unwarned electronic meeting?
    

    Posted 1/09/09

Posted 3/20/08

1. We are televised. Our board table is set up as a "U" with the Chair and administration sitting at the head, facing the public. The public has seating behind the camera, usually two or three rows of chairs, but the camera will rotate to catch them on camera too. If we have a presentation, they usually come up to the main table to do that portion. We usually have a microphone in the middle of the table setup for the TV station reception.

   Posted 3/23/08

2. We have Board members and admin sitting mixed together.

   Posted 3/23/08

3. I think as a viewer it would be less confusing and for camera angle if you had a seating plan with a name/position card in front that could be read by the viewer. I find it nice to mix it up especially if there is any adversarial feeling going with board visitors/issue - this creates less of an us/them atmosphere.

   Posted 3/23/08

4. Our Board members along with our administrators, which includes superintendent, and building administrators as well as our recorder sit at the Board Table. The student reps also sit at the table (they do not vote).Our meetings are televised. We open each meeting with introductions.

   If there are invited quests we make sure to explain who they are and why they are at the meeting and they may be invited to sit at the Board table.

   We have worked very hard to develop a relaxed environment at our Board Meetings. Generally the Administrators are at the table seated together and the board sits together, however we have not defined nor encouraged a seating arrangement.

   The question, seems to indicate, there is something inappropriate about an informal seating arrangement.

   What is the Board trying to say at meetings? For me as a Board member, I want open and frank discussions on issues. I do not want to "stop" the discussion of ideas because of an individuals position. It is critically important that discussions be open and comfortable at the Board Table.

   This conveys to the community a sense that we are working collectively for the best outcome and environment in the school, even when the issue under discussion is a difficult topic.

   Boards should not convey to a community a "them" vs. "us" mentality.

   Posted 3/23/08

5. We are a union school district within a supervisory union, with three schools represented by administrators, plus the superintendent of the supervisory union, so there can be 4-7 people in the administrator group, not counting special appearances.

   Posted 3/23/08

   By accident or design (I suspect the former), our administrators generally, but not always -- sit together, at one end of a u-shaped layout or otherwise together if it’s a square doughnut. For video purposes, sitting together would make sense, of course.

   We’ve never separated the administrators from the board members by a defined space, though.

   Posted 3/23/08

6. We did not separate our board from the administration but the superintendent and principal often sat on the left side and the board sat around the table filling in whatever spaces were available. We did reorganize our seating into a u shape to avoid being distracted. The shape helped us focus on the issues at hand but also move out during community question and other segments when we sought a wider range of opinions.

   Posted 3/23/08

7. Our board (UD-3) does not have assigned seats, per se, but as human nature would have it, most tend to sit in or near the same seat. More out of tradition, the board chair, vice-chair, and supt. sit in the center of the row. The administration do sit together off to one side and the board makes up the balance. Large name tags are placed before each person for clarification.

   Posted 3/23/08

8. We are a small 3-member board and Board members and Administration all sit together around the same table. There is not a defined physical space for either party, i.e. a board member may be seated between the Principal and the Superintendent. Even at the Supervisory Union level meetings, members from various Board are intermingled among Administration and Central Office staff in no particular pattern. This works well for us, but our meetings are not televised.

   I personally don't think it matters where people are seated, but for the televised audience who may not know who is a Board member and who is Administration (or staff), it may be helpful if everyone introduces themselves and states their position/role at the beginning of each meeting.

   Posted 3/23/08

9. We generally have board members sit on one side of the "U" and administration on the other with the board chair in the center - this works well for us. There are times though when we need to have administrators join us for only part of our meeting and we let them sit wherever they choose.

   Posted 3/23/08

10. Currently our board and administrators all sit together at a slightly curved multi table arrangement. The board usually sits in the middle with supervisory union administrators on one side and the school’s administration on the other. The board does not feel comfortable with this arrangement because it does not create close working relationship with all the parties involved.

    We are now looking at changing the seating arrangement to a rectangular design possibly with one end open so visitors can be actively engaged and feel comfortable with the process. Administration and board members should work as a single unit when problem solving. If they are all part of the same seating configuration showing that they are all valued players in the process it will create a positive working relationship.

    We are not routinely televised but on occasion TV cameras do show up. It does help visitors of any kind to know who the players are if the members are properly identified either with opening introductions or with name cards.

    Posted 3/23/08

11. When our Board meetings are televised (and not),we don't have a designated seating arrangement. Ordinarily, the Board chair and Vice Chair sit at one end of the table arrangement facing any community members who might be there (not at the table)(we have 15 members, 2 student members, and up to 7 administrators at each meeting). Administrators sit together at the other end or, if it is a U shaped configuration, on one side. Again, this is an informal arrangement but seems consistent and works well.

    Posted 3/23/08

12. At our local school board meetings (which I chair), board members and administrators all sit around one table (actually, several of those trapezoid tables put together in a ring). My personal feeling is that we're all in this together, and I don't like to create an artificial barrier between the board and the administrators. However, at the S.U. level, it is done differently. The S.U. chair prefers to have the board members and the superintendent at several tables placed together in a row, and have the other administrators and any audience sitting in chairs facing the tables. I find that too formal, but that's just my personal opinion.

    Posted 3/23/08

13. We have attempted to open up the entire process and have elected student representatives and faculty members sit in at Board meetings along with administrators and administrators.

    The Chair sits at the center of a "U" shaped assembly of tables, but that is largely to accommodate the local Public Access TV station. The superintendent usually sits nearby, but that is largely because she is asked a lot of questions and its easier for her to be seen and heard when she is sitting there. Everyone else simply grabs an available seat. The result is an atmosphere that is both collegial and a little informal.

    Our hope is that our student members will see that they can participate in, and influence board policy. On several occasions, they have done just that, and to good effect.

    Likewise, our hope has been that by asking our teachers to designate members to sit in at meetings we can break down any US/THEM alienation and misunderstanding between the board and the teaching community. We seem to be making progress.

    While only Board members have votes, discussions include everyone and we strive for consensus whenever possible.

    We have taken the same inclusive approach with many of our various committees. Students and faculty participate in committees on policy, and educational progress, among others. We have even gone so far as to designate our community relations committee to be an "open committee." In addition to the student/board/parent/faculty members designated by the Board, community members are welcome to drop in and participate at Saturday morning meetings held around a big table at a popular local breakfast spot.

    This is the second year we have used this approach. Initially it seemed a little awkward from time to time. However, as people have become used to it, I think it has drawn the various stakeholders together and generated more thoughtful policy and improved oversight. I would recommend it to any board in the state.

    Teacher morale seems to be better. Our contract negotiations seem to be less stressful, and we have made some dramatic improvements in out test scores relative to the rest of the state.

    Posted 3/23/08

14. As chair of the board, I like to have the superintendent sit next to me in case we need to confer on something. Otherwise, everyone just sits where they want. I think this keeps the meetings from feeling adversarial. I personally view the administration as part of the team. And if staff attend meetings, I prefer to have them at the table to discuss things. We want everyone to feel that we are open to the entire school community. The camera being there, should not affect how you sit nor the "feel" of your meetings. The camera should be showing the rest of the community what a great job you are doing and how they should be supporting the school. If the camera being there is creating insecurity, you have more to worry about than who is sitting where. Although I don't know the board, and the entire situation, but may I suggest that there may be some adversarial issues that need to be addressed that go deeper than the presence of the community through a camera.

    Posted 3/23/08

15. The superintendent, board members, including student member, and building principals all sit at the same u-shaped table in that order. We face the public access TV camera and the public who attend. This is a change in the past year from a more awkward set up where building principals sat in back of room and had to come to standing microphone to address the board and TV.

    Posted 3/23/08

16. We are not televised and don't have a formal seating arrangement. We use the staff room which has 2 large tables (Tshaped) but everyone seems to gravitate to the same chair each time. We are however, flexible as sometimes guests and visitors arrive prior to all Board members.

    Posted 3/23/08

17. I think, to function well, administration and board member need to feel comfortable together. At our board meeting, we just sit wherever there is a place. So no, I don't think there needs to be an artificial separation at the table yet it does seem to be rather common practice to separate the wheat from the chaff when there is a camera (tv) involved. Guess it helps the viewers figure out who is who!

    Posted 3/23/08

18. At LES there is not a defined seating plan. The only request made by a parent was to have the group sit more in a horseshoe shape (a line was too harsh). We agreed because we could all see each other better and we felt we could communicate easier. I believe the closer the group sits (even though there seems to be a personal comfort with the administration sitting on one end and the board on another) the more it displays individuals working as a team.

    Posted 3/23/08

19. Our meetings are televised as are many others. I believe this give the general public, especially in Winooski, an opportunity to see what we are considering and how we interact with the issues and how we vote. As to the seating arrangement we configure our meetings with the board sitting all at the head table with the principals and administrators sitting at an adjoining table along the right with the superintendent and recording secretary sitting on the left. The full table arrangement is configured in sort of a U shape. The audience sits in chairs to the left of the head table and when making presentations either stand and address the board or sits on the end of the principals section for their presentation. Seems to work.

    Posted 3/23/08

20. We have five members on our school board for the three elementary schools in our town, and our meetings rotate between the three schools, normally three months of meetings at each school. Usual attendance at the twice a month board meetings includes the five board members, the board recorder, the superintendent, the three school principals, the EES director, and as needed, other invited school staff and administrators. And, of course, occasionally, interested people from the general public, teachers, and students. We have no formal seating plan, and because of the tremendous rapport among all parties, none is necessary. Meetings are relaxed and informative, and the accomplishments are good. We are not televised, but even if we were, I am sure that nothing would change.

    Posted 3/23/08

21. Our board table is set up intermingled. Board members and administrators sit randomly at the table. Our meetings are not televised. Our guests sit at one end so that it is easy to see all board/administrative members clearly.

    Posted 3/23/08

22. On our SU board, I am the Chair person so I have our Superintendent sit on one side of me, and the vice chair sits on the other side of me, the rest of our 16 person board sits where ever they want, usually each district sits with their own fellow board members.

23. Seating here is divided into two rings: the board members sit in assigned seats at the inner ring - really a "u" shape - with the chair and superintendent at the head. All other admin staff are seated in the outer set of seats. Visitors sit separate from both.

Posted 11/12/07

1. I know that high school teachers get a disproportionate lower amount of contact time with students compared to elementary teachers. Our elementary teachers get 30-40 minutes per day for prep that is usually scheduled around specials. A short period of time after students leave for the day, 15-20 minutes, is usually taken up by parent conversations, meetings, or extra help for students. In my opinion, elementary teachers are shortchanged on this issue. High school teachers often teach more than one section of the same class, enabling prep to overlap. Conversely, elementary teachers spend their day with the same group of students and must prep for 5-6 hours of contact time each day.

   Along with chairing my local board, I also work as a 1:1 para in an elementary school. From first hand experience I can tell you that the daily classroom routine for these teachers is intense with few opportunities for a break, as students transition from one activity or lesson to the next. All the while in the same class with the same teacher. Understanding that the high school environment is more complex both intellectually and socially, I still find it disconcerting that these professionals are allowed so much of their contract time away from the primary focus of their profession, their clients - students. I would submit that other professional occupations insist on a more significant ratio of client contact time each day. If one does look at the ratio it is astounding. In this question 2/3 of the year is spent at a 50% professional to client contact time ratio. Would an insurance company allow a doctor to see patients for only half of his/her working day, yet bill out for a full-time salary? I think not.

   Certainly there are more layers to this onion than meet the eye. However, as a board member I see this situation as one of many large gaps in our system through which many many education dollars fall; at the same time it is a systemic inequity for the professionals involved in primary and secondary education.

   Posted 3/26/08

2. Our elementary teachers are expected to be in school a minimum of 7.5hrs of that they are in class all but a 1/2hr. lunch and a 45min. "specials" period. They also have rotating lunch and recess duty, but a great portion of those are done by TA's and itinerants. It seems to work well. I'm not sure what our HS does, but your teaching load sounds pretty light.
   

   Posted 3/26/08

Posted 11/11/07

1. I was chair of our search committee when we hired a new principal three years ago. I am a board member at Otter Valley Union HS and our principal gave notice in April that he would not be returning - so we had a very short time - at the end of the hiring season - to find someone. Our superintendent, Bill Mathis helped create an excellent and inclusive process which included a search committee with 20 members. There were board members, teachers, guidance, administrators, parents, students, and support staff on the committee. We organized the group and created an effective and inclusive process. At our final interviews, we had teams of each constituency, led by their committee members, ask prepared questions of the candidates. Our most valuable group was the student group, led by our two student board members, who were on the committee. Two of our candidates had major "melt-downs" when faced with a group of students on their own. We knew neither of these two would ever make a good high school principal.

   I don't know whether your school is an elementary or a high school/middle school. I understand a similar process was used by an elementary school in our S.U. - Neshobe - with equally good success. I would refer you to our superintendent with further questions, 802-247-5757.

   Posted 11/13/07

2. Our search committee last year consisted of all three board members, one representative of the teachers, two parents, three community members (one is soon to have a child in the school), superintendent.

   We also solicited input from the support staff and the older students (4-5-6 grade).
   

   Posted 11/13/07

3. On hiring a principal we had two board members, two teachers and two parents. In addition, the Superintendent was there for most of the interviewing process on most of the candidates. Each individual participating prepared questions except for Superintendent who did the introduction. We each had a certain amount of time in order to ask the questions. Many of my questions were asked by other members of the group so the time frame did not become an issue. Good luck.
   

   Posted 11/14/07

4. Yes, we just went through the hiring process for a new principal (not in my school board district, but in my school, so I'm responding as an educator who served on the committee). We had a group made up of 1 school board member, 2 community members, 2 teachers, 1 guidance counselor, 1 para educator, 1 special educator and the 2 principals from the other schools in our district (they were co-chairs on the committee). We started by going through the principal job description and brainstorming qualities/characteristics that we were looking for in a leader. We used these characteristics to come up with interview questions. We used School Spring to review resumes/applications and rank our candidates and come up with the 3 we wanted to interview. After interviews, we split up into groups and went on site visits, where we asked additional questions. The three candidates were then interviewed by the school board and the admin. team. Then we had a community forum...one candidate dropped out after the community forum. There was one candidate who was stronger...and that person is proving to be a great fit for our school! It was a wonderfully collaborative process, and was done in a fairly short time period. Best of luck in the process!
   

   Posted 11/14/07

5. I have been part of 4 principal searches since getting on the Whitingham school board. Our board prefers this process to involve a search committee consisting of 1 - at least 2 of each of the following: parent/community members, teacher/staff, students, board members, superintendent.

   The student participation was from the high school and middle school when we were hiring for our K-12 system then only from the middle school when hiring for our K-8 system. It is challenging now because our building principal is hired by the Whitingham Elementary School board, but we include 2 of the Twin Valley board members in the process also. It can be a pretty bulky committee, but I truly feel having a broad spectrum committee helps to find a principal that meets the schools goals and the best interests of the students.

   There was one time we used a smaller committee when hiring an interim principal.

   Posted 11/14/07

Posted 11/10/07

Posted 11/09/07

1. Whiting and Sudbury town school districts were working towards a merger and hired a principal that serves both schools. I believe the principal is technically hired as a part-time administrator in each school district. Both Whiting and Sudbury are in the Rutland Northeast S.U. and the Superintendent is Bill Mathis. The S.U. phone number is 802-247-5757 if you have any questions. The merger was voted down, but the principal will remain working in both schools. The schools already have some joint sports teams, teachers, and other activities, so a single administrator makes sense.
   Posted 11/13/07

Posted 6/13/07

1. We have two Capital funds. Building and Bus. Each year we have separate ballot items, asking voters to approve putting $7,000 in each fund (yes, we are small school). This does count as additional per pupil spending, if approved. Bus fund is just for purchasing new buses. Building fund is for major repairs (roof, furnace, carpeting) not routine maintenance.

2. Winooski voters were asked a couple of years ago, on the ballot item, for permission to transfer any school year surplus into a capital improvement fund for use in long-term improvements of a direct non-educational nature. This would be for major repairs or upgrades to the grounds and facilities that we seemed to have to cut each year in order to get our budget passed. For the last three years it has proved quite successful and actually has allowed us to improve certain areas passed over many times. Fortunately we have been successful in having surpluses for the past several years and this was a great use of them. This also has allowed us to re-create our five year capital improvement plan which never seem to work until we received this permission. Winooski voters in allowing us to do this were the recipients of successful financial outcomes for these years and as such also allowed us the ability of not having to include these items in the annual budget year after year. Our five year capital plan is now upgraded every other year as we eliminate certain items completed.

   Posted 3/26/08

Posted 3/15/07

1. Much depends upon the size of the board. Robert's Rules have a special section for so-called small boards, where the rules are necessarily much looser. For example, we have a three person board. Under these conditions there is no reason why a chair cannot move or second a motion. Within a board of significant size (our union HS board is thirteen) then the regular rules would be more appropriate, and there would or should be no need for the chair to take such actions.~~
   

   Posted 3/22/07

2. We had an issue on our board about a vote and whether it was a legal vote. We also had questions about abstentions so I did a lot of research on this. In my quest, I was in touch with Mark Eagle, Esq., at the Dept. of Ed, John Nelson at the VSBA, and Kathy De Wolfe at the Secretary of State’s office. Mark Eagle said he is happy to try to find answers for school boards on issues but that he would defer to the Secretary of State’s office on matters of voting as they are the authority. In reviewing Robert’s Rules, I have found that in the case of small boards, the chair should be voting on all matters and not just to break a tie. After discussing this issue with John Nelson, Mark Eagle, Esq., and Kathy De Wolfe, the mutual agreement is that we should always have all members voting on motions, including the chair. I also found that the chair can make motions as well.
   

   Posted 11/13/07

Posted 3/14/07

1. We don't. We often have staff meet with us for presentations with administrators. I would be very interested to know if other Boards have such meetings and how they work out.

   Posted 3/15/07

2. Never - at Dover School.
   

   Posted 3/15/07

3. In some instances that may be appropriate. Certainly if a staff member requests it.

   Posted 3/15/07

4. No, the Windsor School Board does not meet with staff without inviting administrators. The Superintendent would typically be present. Depending on the situation, a principal or another administrator would be present as well.
   

   Posted 3/15/07

5. We do not attend meetings regularly with the staff. The board chair does attend the State of the School meeting and the board is also invited to the end of the school Staff meeting but the board as a whole does not meet with the staff. The staff representatives do come to the board when concerns arise and the administrators are present.
   

   Posted 3/15/07

6. No. Boards are supposed to manage the Superintendent and in some cases the senior administration, and really no one else. If a Board meets directly with faculty or staff without the Superintendent or senior administration present, it can lead to decisions being made or conclusions reached without the benefit of their input, review, and experience. This can in turn result in a breakdown in communications and loss of trust between the Board and those they are supposed to manage, and impact the effectiveness of both groups. Even with good intentions, this is a very slippery slope.
   

   Posted 3/15/07

7. As a board, absolutely not. If staff members were on a committee (either Board or school generated) that could happen. If the reason is some problem w/administration, the board better be very clear, careful, legal, and open about what's going on.
   

   Posted 3/15/07

8. Absolutely not, absolutely not. The staff member should have already met with the administrator. If that is not resolved the staff member should then meet with the superintendent. The superintendent then deals with the administrator and if necessary the Board. If the staff member is still not satisfied the administrator, superintendent and staff member could meet with the Board as approved and arranged by the superintendent. Unless you are talking about a contract negotiation and then a board can meet with the staff.

   Posted 3/15/07

9. I don't believe we ever have. I can't imagine a situation, other than contract negotiation, where at least one administrator (super. or principal) would not be present at a meeting with one of their subordinates.

   Posted 3/15/07

10. Oh my! Absolutely not. Talk about undermining your administrators!
    

    Posted 3/15/07

11. Our board makes it a point not to meet with staff in the absence of administration. Think of it as running a business. You are paying serious money to trained experts to run your enterprise. An enterprise in which, by and large, you are not trained to run. By meeting with staff outside the admin, you are undermining their authority. It may be an ego trip, but it is not good practice.
    Our approach is that we have hired the Superintendent and Principal to run the school (s), we set the standards for what we expect them to accomplish, give them the resources we deem appropriate, tell the what they cannot do, measure the results and stay out of their way.
    By having stayed out of the way, they have no excuse, and can be held accountable. If you interfere with the staff, they have their excuse readymade.
    Check into the concept of Policy Governance, which the VSBA can help you with.
    

    Posted 3/15/07

12. We, Manchester School Board have not met with staff on a regular basis. We have not had the need to. However, the staff knows and are comfortable with requesting a meeting with us
    

    Posted 3/15/07

13. Any meeting of a school board is a "public meeting" therefore everyone is invited. I do not believe that a special invitation should be needed for anyone. If an administrator is involved he/she should be on the warning. All school boards are required to warn a meeting, no exception. If an executive session is needed the meeting must first open in a public meeting format and then, after an appropriate motion, enter into executive session which then must be brought back to open session before a vote can be taken or a decision made.
    

    Posted 3/15/07

14. My experience is that it does not work and sends a message from the Board to employees that the administrators are suspect. An annual meeting with employees in a social situation is an idea that works. Why would you not want administrators in attendance? It would appear that the Board wants to micro-manage or staff want to go around administrators. There are better ways to have your staff heard.
    

    Posted 3/15/07

15. Our board NEVER meets with staff alone. The two superintendents I have served with, over 10 years, have been very clear in discouraging this and discouraging individual board members having private conversations with staff about Board issues.
    

    Posted 3/15/07

16. We have not done that but it is under consideration especially in the evaluation process. The question is who speaks for the staff. Union Rep???? Board selected spokes person(s)???. We do get the Principals to complete and Evaluation on the Supt. and incorporate it into ours.
    

    Posted 3/15/07

17. We have not since I have been on the board met with any staff without the administrator of the building. The principal (administrator) is the educational leader of the building and thus should be involved in all discussions regarding the building, staff, curriculum etc.. I can't think of a situation that would involve such a meeting. I was in administration for many years and always sat in. I suppose it has happened but would like to know the circumstances. Just my thoughts.

    Posted 3/15/07

18. No, we do not (Williston SB)
    

    Posted 3/15/07

19. Great question. Our Board does not do this as it can seriously undermine the ability of the Administrator (Principal) to do his or her job. It is a similar issue to the Board accepting/discussing/addressing complaints from staff members directly, rather than channeling them through the complaint procedure - usually calls for direct addressing, then addressing to Principal, then addressing to Superintendent, and lastly addressing to the Board.
    That said, we do try to meet with staff at least once per year with the Administrator present. This has worked well and often surfaces more reasoned discussion of issues. We also circulate an Administrator Evaluation survey and are piloting a School Climate Survey and encouraging staff to respond to both.

    Posted 3/15/07

20. No, never. Nothing leads to poor working relationships faster than that. It is the administrator's work to manage staff.
    

    Posted 3/15/07

21. We have not met with staff without administrators, but according to Jake, we can. We are going to do a staff survey. We did this last year and it was very informative. We were shocked and learned a lot. People tend to be more honest and probably more negative , on paper.
    

    Posted 3/15/07

22. We don't do it regularly but we have done it.
    

    Posted 3/15/07

23. Yes! And every time I do have an informal meeting with a staff member in the hallway (which is what happens most frequently), I get very diplomatically reprimanded by our Building Principal! It’s one of those items on the learning curve for a school board member that I personally have struggled to deal with. But I just keep reminding myself that it’s my job to make sure the school is well run, but not to run it. And it only creates problems for the Building Administrator when Board members interfere in her work. We have a collaborative and trusting relationship with our Building Principal, so she feels free to speak frankly with Board member, and we are open to what she has to say. I’ve become much more practiced at steering staff/faculty and parents through the proper channels in a diplomatic and respectful way. It makes administration much more orderly and reduces conflicts.
    

    Posted 3/19/07

24. Our Curriculum Committee meets fairly often with staff, particularly this year. Since there are administrators on the Curriculum Committee the answer I guess is yes. However, there are some years we meet more with faculty than others.

    Posted 3/19/07

25. We do not meet with the teachers without the administrators being present. I'd think that would undermine the administration and risk administrative turnover! Unless that's your intent...!

    Posted 3/19/07

26. Our board used to meet with teachers for ‘listening’ sessions on a regular basis and although I believe staff felt it was a valuable tool, there were instances were the board could easily have stepped over the line and been involved in micro-managing. We have not engaged in that practice for many years. Instead, our superintendent and assistant superintendent hold ‘chalkboard chats’ where they are engaged in listening to staff on a regular basis. This more recent communication has been very successful both in giving staff members a venue to participate in district-wide improvement and also in having our superintendent more visible in the school buildings. That being said, individual board members are always available to speak with staff and guide them through possible complaint processes just as we would a parent. It is important that we learn to say "I can't talk about that particular topic, but here is some information that will help you deal with this problem" and then guide them to appropriate policies, etc. Hope this has been helpful.

    Posted 3/19/07

27. It is not the school board's job to meet with staff unless a hearing is required because a problem couldn't be solved with the principal and superintendent.
    

    Posted 3/19/07

28. Definitely NO. I think this is a very bad idea since it undermines your trust in your administration. I believe that the school board's role is to supervise, not to micro manage. Casual conversations, 360 reviews of administrators, that's ok. But if you want to have your school managed by the administrative team, you must trust in the process and stay away from by-passing the administrators. If you have issues with the administrators, take care of those issues, but it is not the role of the school boards to micro manage and to go behind the administrators' backs. How would you like to work for someone that is constantly second-guessed by his boss?
    

    Posted 3/19/07

29. I think meeting directly with staff with admin not there is a HUGE recipe for disaster. It invites staff to do an 'end run' around administration if they have issues they want to bring up. There's a pretty clear chain-of-command and if it begins to break down, bad things happen.
    

    Posted 3/19/07

30. The Essex Town School Board does not meet with teachers unless an administrator is present. Usually the Superintendent. e respect the chain of command. That's an interesting question. Our Teacher/Curriculum Committee works frequently with staff, but it would be very unusual for an Assistant Principal to br present as well. This generally helpful to all, because the staff person has an administrator available to work with should a particular project or directive be requested by the committee.

    Posted 3/19/07

31. Maybe, but I think that boards should only meet with staff when the administrator is present, unless there are serous allegations of misconduct by the administrator - something illegal or potentially very damaging to the school. The board's primary responsibility is to the administrator. This of course does not mean that the board should solicit input from the staff when evaluating an administrator.
    

    Posted 3/19/07

32. It would be a highly unusual circumstance if we did that, like if we were investigating some sort of personnel complaint or something. In the normal course of things, administration is always invited to any meeting we have.
    

    Posted 3/19/07

33. My experience has been that the board that I currently serve on does not meet on a regular basis with the staff without inviting administrators. In general, we do not meet with the staff on a regular basis. I would like to see more interaction with the staff & board in a venue that would allow both parties to be candid with each other in regards to issues surrounding the school and its day to day operations. Our board has always been receptive to when the staff has attended meeting, at times the staff has provided information that we would not necessarily received from an administrative level. The practice of the staff accessing the board directly without going thru proper communication channels is not in particular encouraged by the administration and the staff is strongly encouraged to go thru administration first (proper channels of communication). On occasion, the staff has contacted me directly regarding different issues. I have always been available for such discussion but I also have encouraged the communication to first take place with the administration and if it is not resolved at that level, then to bring it forth to the board.
    

    Posted 3/19/07

34. No
    

    Posted 3/19/07

35. We never meet with staff w/o administration. Doing this would undermine administration. We deal with the administration, they deal with staff. We have grievance procedures, if necessary.

    Posted 3/19/07

36. No, our board would never meet with a member of our staff without admin being present. As a board member it is our responsibility to build the budget, make policy and solve problems that come to the board level, not to micro manage building problems/concerns with staff or parents. We hire superintendents and building principles to deal with staff. I can't think of a time that our board has dealt directly with a staff member.

    Posted 3/19/07

37. We do not meet with teachers unless invited by the Principal and/ or Superintendent. If Boards bypass the chain of command (Teacher-Principal-Superintendent), they will undermine the authority of the administrators that the Board hired and empowered to manage their schools.
    

    Posted 3/22/07

38. No. Sometimes we meet without either the principal or the superintendent. I hope that in the future we will move to having the superintendent attend once per month. We are a member of a Supervisory Union.

    Posted 3/22/07

Posted 2/21/07

1. This is the 21st Century, and many excellent courses are available on line or as DVDs. They are typically taught by first rate teachers, probably more qualified than most Vermont schools could attract;/ afford. This is a trend that all schools, particularly high schools should seriously investigate.

   
   Posted 1/26/09

2. I feel that there needs to be more ways to conserve than to spend where it is unnecessary. A language is always money well spent, which ever one it is. But, at what cost. I think that it is a great idea to share teachers among the schools. In our school, we share our gym teacher, nurse, art and I think our music teacher. I believe in our school district. I don't see where the contract should be a problem as long they are hired with a 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 or full time position.

   Posted 3/14/07

3. One of the best ways to cut costs and be able to offer courses to students as enrollments continue dropping is by sharing resources between districts and SUs. The issue about contracts frequently comes up when these kinds of creative ideas are discussed...though your current contract may prohibit such flexibility. This is an area that should be negotiated in future contracts. You may even want to request from the association that you jointly open the agreement to look at this one issue and arrive at a side-agreement to supplement the current contract until it expires and can be renegotiated. Personally, I am becoming more and more convinced that the issues related to contract and teacher associations are a red herring. Take the issue back to your mission. Get people thinking on a higher plain and not getting stuck in the weeds of why something won't work. Our job as Board members is to set direction - it is the administration’s job to figure how to do it, not just complain about all the ways it won't work.
   The issue needs to be brought back to what is best for our students, what is best for our community, what is the best delivery option for us, and how can find cost-savings that will permit to run an effective school.

   Posted 3/14/07

4. As a response to sharing a teacher from one school to another. We have a PE teacher that teaches at three small schools in our district and 1 school in another district. We have not had any trouble or conflict and this has happened for several years.

   
   Posted 3/14/07

5. At our high school, we have 6 one-hour bands per day, and are on a trimester system. A full time high school teaching load consists of 2 trimesters teaching 3 classes and one trimester teaching 4 classes. The rest of the day (3 hours for two thirds of the year, 2 hours for the other third) are devoted to prep, lunch, duty, and TA work. This appears to be an even lighter load than one 90 minute block per day. What are other high schools looking at in terms of a teacher schedule? I'd be interested to hear comparisons with elementary schools as well. What else should we be looking at - number of preps, class size, unique classes, etc.?

   Posted 6/13/07

Posted 2/22/07

1. We, at our elementary school do not have blocks. There does seem to be a lot of free time for teachers. Some days more than others. Because of music, art, gym, library, recesses and lunch. I wonder how much of the basic learning subjects are they really learning. Our high school has 80 min. blocks, which I believe will be changing. My feelings are that, are students really learning with more class time. They thought they would be. I think there is more problems with student getting into trouble because they get bored (boys more so than girls). They get lost in it all.

   Posted 3/14/07

2. I work at Bratt High school, in addition to serving on the Westminster board. At BUHS, teachers teach three blocks of four, but one of the two semesters, they are assigned a duty for half the other block. Duties are study hall, cafeteria, computer lab coverage, that sort of thing.

   Posted 3/14/07

Posted 1/15/07

1. Our community once put sports on a separate ballot from the budget along with a few other items. Sports was the only item that was passed. Communities feel strongly about students having outlets besides academics. It may be the only tie they have to the school and it is fraught with memories for adults. Separate articles may leave you with the same outcome.
   

   Posted 3/14/07

2. In response to the sports program being a sacred cow; it does seem to be. I am a school board director, and we recently warned our sports program, literacy program, expanded Pre-K, and an After-school program in order to get public involvement. The only program of these to be passed by the voters was the sports program. The rest failed.

   Posted 3/14/07

3. Our School District (St. Johnsbury) is very concerned with the lack of physical activity of our children. We view sports as a major activity to combat obesity as well as to give our students the opportunity to participate in team building. Team building and the behavior associated with team activities is vital to being successful in life. Our school also has made great strides in introducing healthy diets in the cafeteria and has eliminated fatty and sugar rich foods. We are presently discussing ways to double our sports teams to give students a greater opportunity to participate and benefit from physical activity. The recommendation to cut sports seems incompatible with the goal of achieving a balanced curriculum.

   Posted 3/14/07

4. Our Curriculum Committee is beginning to investigate our sports programs and hope to develop principals and guidelines for our all of our athletic programs. We are beginning to ask why we offer sports. I find this discussion encouraging. If the purpose of developing a sports program is to win championships, then I think the athletic program takes away from our core mission. On the other hand, if our purpose is to instill core values such as discipline, respect, responsibility, fairness, trustworthiness and good citizenship as well as offer our students healthy physical activity, then the athletic program can compliment the academic program and can truly be a co-curricular activity. Positive competition and a spirit of excellence are defining values that can be promoted through sports.
   
   

   We are studying a model developed in Maine called Sports Done Right. You can read more about it at this website: http://www.sportsdonerightmaine.org/ I encourage board members to read the report posted on this website and to think seriously about how to structure and support their sports programs.

   We don't itemize other aspects of our budgets. I think it would be counterproductive and destructive to a cohesive educational program to put bits and pieces up for vote every year. On the other hand we will be more successful in passing school budgets if we are clear about our purpose for each program and can publicly justify their expense.

   Posted 3/14/07

5. You might remind members that a line item budget for sports could pass while the budget goes down.

   Posted 3/14/07

6. I have 5 children, all who have played sports or who play sports. Basketball, soccer, field hockey, lacrosse and football. I truly believe that each child needs to find something good in themselves. For some students that's all they feel they have. As for your question, I don't feel that the tax payers should foot the whole bill. I think that all students should do more fund raising and have to be a part of the before and after the glory. To many kids feel that it is owed to them and that they shouldn't have to work for it. What ever happened to work hard and you shall receive? It makes for a more well rounded student or young adult. Hope this helps.
   

   Posted 3/14/07

7. I am willing to guess that the line item for sports, after school, drama, etc. is a small percentage of your overall budget. I think that programs like these are what helps build school community. These are the kinds of programs that small towns rally around (large ones too!!) Having and supporting these programs within the regular school budget I believe pays off in the long run. The parents, grandparents, etc. that attend their kids sporting events, drama productions, the after school program's puppet show appeal to your core group of voters that will hopefully support your school budgets on Town Meeting Day. I wouldn't want to go down the road suggested. Having that part of your budget voted on separately on Town Meeting Day (or whatever day your budgets are voted on) is not something I would not recommend. I don't think you want to lose your core group of voters who will support budget and schools. We need to support the students not only academically, but socially and physically via athletic programs and other programs.

   I understand the problem. I know that some might suggest that anything "extra" might be funded by the user. The problems is what about the family who might not be able to pay for the "extras."

   I'm going to fall back on the idea that it takes a village to raise a child. That offering such programs is perhaps a community responsibility and it is the right thing to do.

   Posted 3/14/07

Posted 1/10/07

1. Unknown at this time.
   

   Posted 1/15/07

2. Our district(Westford) is not immediately impacted by the catamount plan but we could be impacted based on the number of less than FTE’s that we engage in. Our fellow district(Essex Jct) will probably be impacted more due to the higher number of less than fte’s that they hire. Based on this plan, we will (all districts) at some point or another be impacted by the ramifications of this plan.

   Posted 1/15/07

3. Catamount Health Tax is approximately $15,000 in our budget this year: crossing guards, subs and seasonal employees. We are asking the legislature for help in dealing with this.

   Posted 1/15/07

4. It cost us about $8,000 for subs and part-timers. Even though they are part time proportional payments are required.

   Posted 1/15/07

5. Not Affected

   Posted 1/23/07

6. We have not as yet been advised by administrators of any effect. Most of our employees have access, although not all of the non teaching staff take advantage of it. Perhaps the subsidy allowed under the law will encourage more participation: that could raise our costs somewhat.

   Posted 1/23/07

7. Our district gives support staff a significant amount in an "HSA" that far exceed the $365/yr Catamount fee. Currently, this would not count as health insurance and we would have to pay the fee.

   We have talked to Sen. McDonald (on Ed Committee) and he says that this was unforeseen and there will be technical changes to correct this.

   Posted 1/23/07

8. For your information... the following two website hold a great deal of information regarding the Catamount Health Plan. VSBIT and the Legislature.

   Posted 1/30/07

Posted 1/9/07

1. Absolutely

   Posted 1/15/07

2. All meetings are warned whether or not there is a board quorum.
   

   Posted 1/15/07

3. Vt open meeting law treats Board meetings and committee meetings the same with respect to warnings and minutes. It does not distinguish between them, considering them both "public bodies". Your answer is found in the definition section of the open meeting law under public bodies. I believe the language refers to political sub divisions of the state and sub committees thereof.

   Posted 1/15/07

4. All our meetings are publicly warned and minutes are available within five days. They may not be typed but if anyone wanted them they could ask for.

   Posted 1/15/07

5. Yes. According to what I learned in 2006 at our annual legal briefing meeting, all meetings -- even committee meetings -- must be warned. I have assumed, therefore, that minutes must be kept and made available upon request. You could contact your Superintendent or legal counsel for more information or clarification.

   Posted 1/23/07

6. They are warned but and they have minutes available.

   Posted 1/23/07

7. Yes. I'm not sure HOW "available" the minutes of committee meetings are, but they are formally taken and kept, and could be obtained if requested.

   Posted 1/23/07

Posted 1/4/07

1. No, but usually 3 days.

   Posted 1/15/07

2. I do not recall any formal policy that implies that we have to receive the board information so many days ahead of the meeting. Generally speaking, my experience is that the supervisory office has been very good in providing materials for the meetings well in advance of the meeting.

   Posted 1/15/07

3. We have a procedure in place as to the number of days we receive our board packets.

   Posted 1/15/07

4. No we don't have a policy on when we get packets but we should. We generally get the Fri or Sat before a Monday meeting. Not earlier enough for my liking to do the necessary preparation.

   Posted 1/15/07

5. We do not have a policy but a procedure to have them in by Thursday noon for a Monday meeting .

   Posted 1/23/07

6. No such policy. Packets are typically sent out a few days before the meeting. If we require study, we try to provide materials the previous meeting to give more time for study.

   Posted 1/23/07

Posted 12/14/06

1. Our school doesn't have a policy, per se, about delegating responsibility to committees. However, we have 2 pretty active committees (School Forest Committee and the Early Education Outreach Advisory Committee) that meet regularly and make recommendations to the school board, even on fiscal matters.

   Posted 12/19/06

2. Our board often creates committees for specific purposes (i.e. Playground Improvement Committee, Building Safety Committee) that include board members, educators and community members. Sometimes the committees are given monetary parameters to work within, but the Board always retains final decision making power in all spending issues. Recommendations are brought back to the board from committee, and the Board decides to fund all, part, or none of the plan or proposal.

   Posted 12/14/06

3. Hope this helps ... Our policy since 2003 is embedded below. Unless specifically stated in the charge, the committee has no spending authority, power to act or communicate for the board. A number of years ago we did charge an enrichment committee for the duration of one year and allocated a sum not to exceed $ specified work outlined in the charge with specified report back dates.

   BOARD COMMITTEES
   Through resolution, the Board has authority to appoint committees, standing or otherwise, that may be required for better execution of its power and duties. A committee will not have the power to act or to communicate for the Board, except as the Board has specifically authorized an action, but will make recommendations to the Board. Committee recommendations and reports will become an official part of Board minutes.

   The Board may create committees of citizens to provide assistance and counsel. Such committees will conform to the provisions of this policy. The Board will name a committee chairperson and members annually. The Board chairperson, superintendent and the principal will serve as ex officio members on each committee.

   Committee members will be provided a charge, an indication of duration of the committee, and a list of committee functions as approved by the Board, and will meet at the call of the chairperson. A committee will be dissolved upon completion of its assignment, or it may be dissolved at any time by a vote of the Board. Minutes will be taken at all committee meetings. Membership and attendance will be recorded in the minutes of the meetings. Minutes of the committee meetings will be archived at the school building.

   Posted 12/14/06

4. I do not think it is appropriate for the school board to delegate its authority to committees made up of non-school board members. If a school board member feels he/she is not able to participate in a committee for whatever reason, that is OK. But don't refer your responsibility to a non-board member.

   Posted 12/14/06

5. We are in the process of establishing a committee made up primarily of on-board members, to oversee the transition process as it relates to the closing of one of our 4 elementary schools. Students from the school which is being closed will be reassigned, and the entire district is being realigned. The committee is tasked with creating a list of activities and a timeline to ensure that all families feel welcomed at the new school. The board has decided to allow a budget to this committee. They will need to establish that budget and bring it to the board for approval.

   Posted 12/14/06

6. The board chair is on all committees. Each board member is required to be on at least one committee. This process takes places when officers are elected, the first meeting after town meeting day.

   Posted 12/15/06

7. The Montpelier School Board only uses committees to make recommendations to the Board or to the superintendent. The type of committees we have used in the past include facilities recommendations (studying the need for an addition to the high school, for example), gifted and talented students, and food and fitness issues.

   The responsibility for approving expenditures of money cannot rest with a committee, since there would be no accountability. When the board approves money it does so in open session, accountable to the public. When the superintendent spends money, it is overseen by the board in some fashion. Neither of these apply to a committee. The committee could recommend that the board or the superintendent spend money, but I would never allow the committee to approve it alone.

   Posted 12/15/06

8. Lamoille Union has one policy regarding committees, and I think it answers all of the concerns of the member who wrote. it states: "The Chairperson of the Board of School directors shall annually appoint members of its body and any others he/she so chooses to necessary committees. These committees shall be delegated only those powers as prescribed by the Board. A committee may be terminated by a vote of the Board at any time." I would be willing to discuss this and other of our policies with the writer.

   Posted 12/15/06

9. My initial response would be that the committee would be charged to gather the requested information and review it. The committee would then submit a proposal (or all findings) but the ultimate decision is the Boards, and the Board alone would make decision on how funds are allocated.

   Posted 12/15/06

10. Our committees are not empowered to spend funds. They present their findings or recommendations to the full board for action.

    Posted 12/16/06

11. Any time the Williston School District has organized a committee, we've developed a charge for the committee so that they will understand what the Board is asking, clarifying roles, and anticipated time of a response back to the board. In general, we ask our committees to bring back a recommendation to the Board based on their work. Any formal action is taken only by the Board. If the charge does not expressly state anything about fund expenditure, the committee would need to return to the board to make that request. All of our committees have at least 1 or 2 board representatives on them also which we've found helps.

    Posted 12/15/06

12. We do not have such a policy. Nor do we have practices that allow RESPONSIBILITY (which I would interpret as be decision making) to committees that include people who are neither school board members nor administrators. We do have committees that involve the public, but they are advisory, such as the building committees we've had before building projects, and the community wellness committees. Certainly no such committee could authorize the spending of money.

    Posted 12/15/06

13. We have had and encouraged community members to get involved in a variety of issues. We make it clear that they are not voting members and that the board has the final say. We respect and welcome all input and have people understand that it is that. I have found it to be very helpful, sometimes uncomfortable and good policy. it most always leads to a better understanding.

    Posted 1/9/07

14. All community members and committees comprised of such always report back to the board for approval -- motion on action. No one has the authority to approve any kind of expenditure except the Board. There is a small fund which the principal can spend without Board approval for small school repairs.

    Posted 1/10/07

15. Committees are always advisory to the board. I find it works best to give them a very specific charge and to meet with them in the beginning to make certain they understand that they are making RECOMMENDATIONS to the board and that only the board can act.

    Posted 1/9/07

16. Our committees do the work on specific matters and recommend to the board. The board votes on their recommendations. They do not have the authority to take action on behalf of the board.

    Posted 1/15/07

Posted 05/23/06

1. Restructuring learning teams, compressing the number of teams within the school and potentially increasing the number of multi-grade classrooms within multi-grade teams.

   Posted 12/14/06

   I have been concerned about this for some time. Our community has been very supportive of the school budgets in past years; I'm concerned that without some action on our part, some drastic cuts will result. Some teachers are reluctant to make significant changes ( They doing enrichment and some multi-grade activities, ex. buddy reading & writing, etc.) However, some will not willingly go to a multi-grade approach without a board mandate. In an effort to empower the principal to go to multi-grade classes for all or part of the day, it was suggested that the board consider a policy to that effect. The VSBA's only policy on class size was one from Barre - but their problem dealt with classes that were too large. Nevertheless, I took their idea and drafted a policy that I thought was reasonable. My colleagues on the board did not support having a policy to deal with this concern. Felt direction could be given to the principal without having a policy.

   I have copied the draft policy I proposed below, for your information; I would have agreed to eliminate the list of recommended class sizes, but the board did not want to consider a policy on this topic.

   I am interested in any thoughts or information you have on this topic.

   DRAFT CLASS SIZE POLICY

   The ___________ Board of School Directors recognizes the correlation between class sizes and student achievement. The Board also recognizes its responsibility to ensure that class sizes do not impose an unreasonable financial burden on the community or have an adverse impact on other educational programs and operational functions at the _____________ School.

   The Board further recognizes that extenuating circumstances may exist for which an administrator may request that the Board consider an exemption from this policy.

   The _____________Town School ideal class-sizes are as follows:

   Kindergarten: 16
   First: 18
   Second: 18
   Third: 18
   Fourth: 20
   Fifth: 20
   Sixth: 20
   Seventh: 20
   Eighth: 20

   The ________________ School Board expects that class numbers that fall below 10 will trigger the following:

   Multi-grade classrooms for all or part of the day. In some cases, this may permit professional staff to be used to address the needs of other students in the areas of remediation and enrichment.

   A review and possible reduction of classroom aide time, excluding those services required by student IEPs.

   A report to the School Board delineating how resources are being used.

   With input from the professional staff, the administration shall assess staff skills to determine what, if any, professional training shall be required to enable and assist classroom teachers in providing quality instruction in a multi-grade format and arrange for the provision of such training.

   Posted 12/17/06

   In Winooski our problem is just the opposite. We have declining enrollment in the upper levels of the middle school and in the high school. Our elementary population seems to be holding. What we have decided is to restructure our entire school system during FY09 and to look at which structure will best serve us given this problem. During this next school year but before budget time in November we will shape the structure by the board, with assistance from the administration and recommendations from a high school design committee. We will then invite, through a series of public meetings, staff, teachers, support groups from the community and the community itself to hear our plan and to enlist comments, suggestions, and direction from these groups. In the end we hope to vote on a structure that will best suit the needs of our community for the near and perhaps long-term future.

   Posted 3/26/08

Posted 05/16/06

1. The board member should be talked to by the chair and other members in exec. session. Explain all the problems legal etc that this can cause, 1 warning then ask for resignation.

   Posted 7/12/06

2. This is a widely misunderstood subject and often coupled with a distortion of the law. It must be first under stood that the executive session section of the VT open meeting law is an exception to the public's normal absolute right to witness elected officials "doing the people's business." In essence it is a very limited power given to a the majority of the board to impose a restriction on the public. It is not in anyway a restriction on individual board members. Former Deputy Secretary of State (to Jim Douglas) Attorney Paul Gillies, is widely recognized as an authority on VT governance law. He dealt with this subject in his Sec of State "Opinions" publication in the 90s saying "there is nothing against the law about a board member revealing what was said in an executive session" He further went on to say there are certainly ethical issues but they are very specific to the subject discussed and the intent of the law. The mere disclosure of the content of the discussion is not unethical unless it violates the spirit of the law that permitted the exclusion of the public in the first place, I.E., severely disadvantaging the school district in a real-estate negotiation. If a board member told his neighbor that had no involvement in the transaction then there is no harm and thus no fowl. Yet disclosing sensitive personnel matters could subject the school and the member to civil action. But simply being sensitive or embarrassing to the board is insufficient to make disclosure unethical. Remember it takes a majority to go into executive session. This means that a dissenting member must permit the exclusion of the public but he or she hasn't personally agreed to anything.

   Of greater ethical concern to me is the unbridled abuse of executive session that occurs everyday in Vermont. Personnel and student matters are a given but most other matters like contracts, especially unilateral contracts, litigation etc. premature public disclosure must, by law, put the school at a substantial Disadvantage . Discussing eliminating positions at budget time does not qualify just because it is "sensitive" to those currently in those positions.
   

   Posted 1/15/07

3. It has been our boards experience, and we did have a problem a couple of years ago, that although this is considered highly unethical it is not illegal. We dealt with it by letting the community know that this rouge member was not speaking on behalf of the board but, of his own opinion and also made note of the unethical behavior of an elected official. The tide turned and public confidence in this particular board member was lost.

   Posted 1/23/07

4. We have been fortunate that this has not occurred on my watch over the last six years. Should it occur my plan would be to have a sit-down meeting with the offender and to re-affirm the unwritten policy of confidentiality surrounding the idea of executive session. Although there is no written law that prohibits a board member of divulging what was said in executive session, there is however an unwritten rule of trust that members will not make know what was discussed or determined. Without that element of trust then the very nature of a confidentiality, protecting the freedom of open dialogue between members discussing a particular subject will certainly be in jeopardy.

   Posted 3/26/08

Posted 05/11/06

Posted 3/18/09

Posted 05/05/06

Posted 12/02/05

1. Salaries and benefits are driven by the negotiated agreement and should be budgeted as such. If you are in a negotiating year - base it on your own past settlements, recent settlements within your county, or make a best guess.

   Posted 1/9/07

Posted 10/05/05

1. We have tried paying a daily stipend for a bus driver that is also a substitute and/or paraeducator. The small savings has allowed for the expense of another paraeducator to ride the buses as disciplinarians.

   Posted 10/05/05

2. We have paid them unemployment in the summer months.

   Posted 10/06/05

Posted 10/06/05

1. We have placed an item on our agenda for follow-up items and asked the administrators to use that time to answer questions asked of them at previous meetings.

   Posted 10/05/05

2. Remember that administrators do not necessarily have the time to answer questions and get information for individual board members and should only be expected to answer to items requested by the board as a whole. In addition, when making a request for information, make sure it is written down and that a realistic timeframe is determined at the outset. This way everyone know up front what is asked for and when it should be expected.

   Posted 10/07/05

3. We have an item on the agenda called To-Do list. This is used for us to review items that we have discussed during the meeting to follow-up on and is put in the minutes that way. We discuss with the administrators what the time-line is or what a realistic time to expect an answer for the board. When setting the agenda for the next meeting, the to-do items are reviewed and placed on the agenda for answer/action.

   We follow chain of command and all requests from individual board members go through the Chair and the Chair goes to the Superintendent with requests for information. The Superintendent is the point person with his/her staff and the Chair with his/her board. This is the best way to keep things organized and to make sure a principal isn't being barraged by 7 board members for information. It is vital that the lines of communication are clear.

   Posted 05/05/06

Posted 10/07/05

Posted 10/09/05

Posted 11/10/05

1. Our SU contracted with the VSBA for a workshop on Superintendent Evaluations. From that workshop we amended their model evaluation tool (available on their website) to fit our needs. Mainly we use a 3 number system (below expectations, meets expectations, exceeds expectations) instead of the 5 on the VSBA model. We also rewrote our job description so it more closely matched our evaluation tool. We are also following their model timeline (also available on their website). The most important item in our evaluation process is communication. Sounds simple, but isn't always carried out. The superintendent submits his written self evaluation to the boards in December at which time each board fills out an evaluation form. The SU executive committee (the board chairs) then meets, and compiles the four evals into one document with the superintendent. This ensures an accurate accounting of the super’s job performance as a lot of times the board only knows what isn't working in the district, and aren't aware of all the hard and good work the superintendent is doing. This draft final document is then sent to the board at it’s February meeting for final review and any changes the board would like to see. It is then presented to the superintendent as a final document for inclusion in his or her personnel file. A contract is then negotiated based on this evaluation. This is our second year using this method and it looks like we're finally on track to complete an accurate, and timely superintendent evaluation.

   Posted 1/02/06

Posted 10/07/05

1. Our board has an agreement to handle concerns from parents or community members which is to direct the person to the superintendent who will follow up on the concern and direct it back into the system. Once this protocol is established and used for a while, the community becomes aware of how it works and most concerns work their way trough the system and get addressed at the best place. This also makes it appropriate, when someone comes to a board meeting unannounced, for the board to respectfully listen to the concern and then direct it back into the system with follow-up from the superintendent. Of course, board members must understand how the system works and restrain themselves from entering into a debate, even if the issue may be controversial.

   Posted 2/07/06

Posted 10/07/05

1. The board chairperson sets the agenda - working in conjunction with the superintendent and/or principal. We have included an agenda item asking for topics for future agendas. This is to ensure that any board member or member of the public can request (on record) that an issue be considered.

   Posted 11/07/05

2. Our chairperson is charged with working with the superintendent to set an annual agenda and then meeting with the superintendent to set each meeting agenda in a timely manner so that supporting information can be sent out to board members in advance in order that they can be prepared for the meeting. Our meetings begin at 6:00 and end at 8:00 unless the board agrees to continue.

   Posted 2/07/06