Notes (Minutes) of the ORCSD School Board Retreat-September 13, 2008
By Henry Brackett
These minutes are from my notes at the retreat. I tried to be as true to what was being said and by whom. I did not catch all the speaker’s words but the substantive meaning of their comments is there in these minutes. Some of the jumps in conversation are just that-jumps in the way each board member wanted to direct the conversation at a particular moment. Other jumps are me not catching the words that lead to a transition in the member’s conversation.
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Thank you Henry for capturing the meeting minutes from the School Board Retreat. I am still upset that our tax dollars were spent at the Three Chimneys when the Board could have used a District facility.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the bid process, clearly the chain of command failed and this is why the Public brought the issue to the Board on multiple occasions. In the private sector, if a manager does not follow policy he / she would most likely be fired or at least put on probation. Why is this not the case with our School District?
I can't imagine a clearer violation of a policy - - get three bids on projects over $5,000 - - this was not done on multiple occasions. This is probably one of the only black and white issues on the table! It begs the question, what are the other policies our Administration ignores and our School Board fails to enforce? It makes me wonder.
Yes, public confidence and trust is quite low. How can it be restored? Transparency and accountability. Restricting public comment is definitely not the way to restore faith, that's for certain.
There are so many items in these discussions that make me sad.
ReplyDeleteI find it troubling that a Board Retreat would include administrators. The Board is supposed to be separate from the administration to serve as checks and balances.
This is very discouraging and I feel that the actions and discussions are not in the best interest of our children!
Please remember that these notes are not offical. Although I know that Henry pays attention, please don't let it sway you to think anything but that Jennifer and Kim are totally trying to be responsible and push the envelope with these people and these minutes do not reflect that.
ReplyDeleteWE TOO need to suport Jennifer and Kim and push the envelope as well.
All the members of the board are trying to do the right thing - not just Jennifer and Kim.
ReplyDeleteOf course it is appropriate for the administration - at least the superintendent - to be present. They are charged with enforcing the will of the board. He needs to know what the opinions are so he can properly carry out his duties.
Why would the superintendent not feel he could speak candidly because there were members of the public present? This is confusing because this is a public meeting I thought. Don't school board members represent the public, too?
ReplyDeleteIn my view, the open contempt that David Taylor, Joe Quimby and Joanne Portalupi harbor for “the public” makes them temperamentally unfit for their jobs—how can you serve the people while despising them?
ReplyDeleteIronically, these three claim to be concerned about the lack of trust between the Board and the public! Gee…anyone care to venture a guess as to what that mistrust might be rooted in?
Their eager push to restrict what little chance we have to make our voices heard through public comment ought to be strenuously opposed by all right-thinking citizens. If the members of the Board can’t stomach listening to a member of the public for three minutes, under what under what attenuated definition of the word can they claim to “serve” the public?
But I guess none of us are members of the “real community” anyway…
I suspect that Kim Clark and Jennifer Rief aren't being thrown into this discussion because they continue to be the mouth pieces for the organizers of this blog. I find it ironic that the term responsibile member is being bantered about when talking about Jennifer given she was elected as an at-large candidate to represent the interests of all three District communities and only espouses the beliefs of the Durham taxpayer's association.
ReplyDeleteJennifer and Kim stand for logical right-minded thinking.
ReplyDelete- Fiscal responsibility
- Improving Communication
- Increasing Public Involvement
What we have seen from David Taylor over the years is fear mongering, accusations from "dissident" groups in the public, lack of respect to the public. Hey Dave...STOP LOOKING AT YOUR MACBOOK AND LISTEN TO THE SPEAKERS!!!
Also, JoAnn, you are not a rubber stamp for this administration.
Joe...I respect your efforts to limit discussion points...however, please pick a side to these controversial topic. You are hard to read.
Stacey...echo thoughts from Joe above.
Why not look at spending money smarter...what is so AWFUL about it?!?!