The School Board
School board meetings are held on a monthly basis and comprised of several board members that were elected by its citizens. The purpose of the school board is to set the vision of the school district as a whole and make the decisions that affect our schools. Their responsibilities are to balance the yearly budget, approve the yearly calendar, and approve the curriculum along with many other responsibilities. “First and foremost school boards look out for students. Education is not a line item on the school board’s agenda—it is the only item.” (NSBA, 2002) This paper will compare and contrast two different school board meetings from separate districts, the interactions observed and the content of each meeting.
Chula Vista Elementary School District
The first school board meeting I attended had an extremely positive atmosphere. As soon as I walked in, there was standing room only and I can see that a high number of parents, students and teachers were in attendance supporting their schools. The meeting began with a presentation by three students speaking about their technology use, the school environment and culture and how much they loved their teachers and staff.
Following the student presentations, a new preschool program of 780 students made their presentation. With the use of technology, they updated the board members with their eligibility process, funding, space and furnishings, curriculum, scores, RTI model and the use of their diagnostic teaching model. Most importantly, they also shared how proud they were of their preschool teachers thanked the board for approving permanent contracts for all preschool teachers.
After the preschool leadership team presented, four elementary schools presented their end of the year statistics and the success of their programs. With the use of technology, schools played 5-10 minute videos that included parent testimonies of how proud they were of their children and schools, how students self evaluated themselves, how the use of technology saved paper, how they used social media to reach the 21st century students and how blogging has become a great success amongst students and their families.
San Diego Unified School District
The second school board meeting I attended was at the San Diego County Office of Education for the San Diego Unified School District. This school board meeting began with a negative tone. The public was given the first 30 minutes to voice any concerns or comments at this time. The first person came up and gave her testimony of how her son was being unfairly treated at one of their charter schools. Her son has been experiencing a high level of bullying. The parent felt she has not been supported and her child has been expelled on here say, not facts. Parent wants to take legal action and would like some support from the school board.
The second through the fifth testimonies had to do with Claremont High School and their newly renovated sports facility. People of the community lined up one by one and gave their two minute testimony of how the loudness of their sound system, the bright lights of the stadium and the loud crowds have negatively affected their community. They mentioned how the community is known for being quite and family oriented. With the addition of the stadium, their kids are woken up late at night and the sounds of profanity from the crowd has made their neighborhood hard to live in. They mentioned they spoke with the principal about the contract details and the allowable night games or activities they can have as a school per year. They mentioned the school has exceeded this number and constantly loan out the stadium to non-school activities. They are requesting the school board looks into this matter and obtain their support in reviewing the current stadium contract.
Operational Matters
Next on the San Diego Unified board meeting agenda were the operational matters of a new charter school named Ingenuity and an update of propositions S and Z. Ingenuity is a charter school focused on 21st century learning. “Ingenuity Charter is a unique, student centered, Independent Study program that focuses on the 5 elements of high quality 21st century education.” (Ingenuity, 2015) The five elements are competence, critical thinking, collaboration, creativity and communication. All five elements are aligned with technology.
Prop S and Z
The representative also indicated that prop S and Z is in full swing, 97 projects have been completed and 13 currently in progress. “Bond projects include classroom technology, safety and security upgrades, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) upgrades, new/renovated facilities for College, Career and Technical Education, temporary classrooms replaced by permanent classrooms, air conditioning, ADA improvements to athletic facilities, turf fields, and other capital improvements at traditional and charter schools throughout the district.” (San Diego Unified, 2015) I was able to observe some visuals of these projects and it’s amazing how much money, hundreds of millions, are being used to update and/or build schools. Not only are they creating schools but they’re equipping the students and teachers with the best and latest in technology.
I have been to board meetings in the past but this time I came in with a different scope. Not as a teacher, I came in with the scope of an administrator and decision maker. I also highlighted the importance of technology and how it was emphasized by all schools that presented. 21st century learning is in full effect. I also noticed the variety of issues heard by the school board, there are endless aspects to education such as the loudness and brightness of a 21st century high school stadium. However, millions and millions of dollars are invested in our education system, which is great but it’s about how the finances are allocated by the decision makers. Plans are now in place to ensure resources are allocated effectively through strategic planning. A plan that is currently in place is the Local Control and Accountability Plan, also known as an LCAP, which is part of the annual budget planning process. The purpose of the LCAP is to align academic plans with spending plans and it includes the voices and input of the public and teachers.
References
The Role of School Boards. (2002). Retrieved June 9, 2015.
Ingenuity. (2015). Philosophy. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
Facilities Bond Program: Propositions S & Z. (2015). Retrieved June 9, 2015.
The Role of School Boards. (2002). Retrieved June 9, 2015.