Video Transcript July 15, 2020

00:03
hello everybody
00:05
um hi i'd like to call the meeting to
00:08
order
00:08
at 1203 p.m and i'd like to ask for a
00:11
motion to open the public meeting
00:14
oh let
00:17
Jane all in favor
00:20
aye aye uh may i have a motion to enter
00:23
into executive session to discuss
00:25
matters of safety
00:29
move holly move may have a second
00:33
Hillary seconds all in favor please say
00:35
aye
00:36
okay we will now convene an executive
00:39
session see you later everybody
00:40
thank you okay welcome back everyone
00:44
um i'd like to the board has been an
00:46
executive session discussing matters of
00:49
safety may i have a motion to reconvene
00:51
the public session
00:55
um Hillary has moved we have a second
00:58
jane
00:58
Jane Jane is seconded all in favor
01:02
please say aye
01:04
okay and um uh may i ask Holly to
01:08
uh lead us in the pledge of allegiance
01:14
i pledge allegiance to the united united
01:18
states of America
01:19
and to the republic public stands one
01:22
nation
01:23
under god god indivisible
01:30
[Music]
01:31
i'm gonna need to get a flag in my
01:32
dining room okay
01:35
yes so um we're having a public meeting
01:38
today
01:39
to discuss the structure of our
01:41
committees but before we get into that i
01:42
would just like to say a few words about
01:44
very brief words about um school
01:46
reopening plans
01:48
i i know that everyone that the
01:50
community our students and our staff
01:53
have all been very anxiously awaiting um
01:56
the plans and the announcements from the
01:58
state i know this has been
01:59
a very trying difficult and frustrating
02:02
time and we
02:03
we all share the frustration with you
02:06
when we understand it
02:08
so just to briefly reiterate what we've
02:12
talked about before
02:13
we know that the decision to open
02:15
schools or to close
02:17
schools is the governor's decision it's
02:19
made at the state level
02:21
and school districts don't have the
02:23
authority to make that broad decision
02:26
on Monday the 13th state guidelines were
02:28
released
02:29
the New York State Education Department
02:31
had a reopening guidance
02:33
presentation to the board of regents
02:36
today
02:36
they are set to send out full plans
02:39
uh we haven't received them yet but
02:41
that's due to come out today
02:43
the New York State health department uh
02:46
put out their guidance for in-person
02:48
instruction on Monday the 13th as well
02:51
and so now it's up to the local
02:53
districts to come up with their
02:54
specific plans by July 31st then the
02:58
governor is set to make a final decision
03:00
the first week of august and he has
03:02
specific metrics that he
03:04
um he announced so if a region is in
03:07
phase four
03:09
and the daily infection rate is five
03:11
percent or lower
03:12
over a 14-day average the virus would be
03:16
deemed under control and it would be
03:18
safe to reopen schools
03:20
if schools will close if the regional
03:24
infection rate is above
03:25
nine percent on a seven day average
03:28
so i think the key here the thing to
03:30
remember is that whatever decisions are
03:32
made
03:33
it's going to be a fluid situation and
03:35
everyone needs to be able
03:37
uh to be very flexible for change
03:40
Dr Ackerman will send out a
03:42
communication this Friday
03:44
with very broad outlines for our plan
03:46
with enough information for parents
03:48
to make plans for the fall and then
03:50
we'll have a more detailed plan
03:52
by the um by the end of the month to
03:54
meet the deadline
03:56
um the administration and the staff and
03:59
parents have been very hard at work
04:02
you know working on these plans and so
04:05
we will be fully ready
04:08
by the deadline i just want everyone to
04:10
know that
04:11
synchronous learning plans are in place
04:14
and whatever
04:15
mode of opening we pick or we choose or
04:18
that we have to adopt
04:19
we will be fully ready for
04:22
a very good instructional plan that will
04:24
be very different from what we had in
04:26
the spring
04:27
the information will be on the website
04:29
we'll have a specific link
04:31
that is a reopening or covid19 link so
04:34
that people could easily go and see what
04:36
what the plans are and what updates will
04:38
be so once again we ask for your
04:40
patience and flexibility
04:42
as information comes out
04:45
um and i just have to add that
04:48
you know we will have to look at our
04:49
budget this question was raised to us at
04:51
the public comment period
04:53
at the last meeting we may have to look
04:56
at our budget
04:57
if compliance with the guidelines will
04:59
uh
05:00
mean that we have extra costs to the
05:02
district and we have to remember that we
05:04
still face the possibility of mid-year
05:06
cuts to state aid of about 20 percent
05:09
unless there's a federal bailout of
05:11
states so we have those issues to look
05:13
at
05:13
in the future as well okay
05:17
so now let's turn to the issue of
05:18
committees
05:20
the board has we have a number of
05:22
committees
05:23
we have an audit committee facilities
05:27
wellness a green committee
05:30
communications committee and a policy
05:32
committee
05:33
and all of these committees are staffed
05:35
in different ways
05:37
and what we're going to talk about today
05:40
is a consistent and equitable way to
05:42
staff the committees
05:44
we also of course have an added
05:45
committee a committee on race
05:48
diversity and social justice so
05:51
we're going to talk about all those
05:52
committees together
05:54
and talk about being consistent
05:58
and staffing them so usually the
06:02
committees have two board members
06:04
and some of them have members of
06:07
the community
06:08
that would be audit facilities wellness
06:13
and green committees and then we have
06:16
the communications and the policy
06:18
committee which
06:20
don't have community members and the
06:22
board advisory committee on race and
06:24
diversity
06:24
is meant to have community members so we
06:28
would like
06:30
to adopt some changes that will you know
06:33
that will enable
06:34
more community feedback across the
06:35
committees
06:37
so i'd like to open up that discussion
06:40
and um to see you know first if
06:44
we have any opinion general opinions on
06:46
the matter
06:48
is it okay with everyone if i do um may
06:50
i do a little framing
06:52
for that yeah that would be great okay
06:54
i'm gonna share my screen
06:56
all right so uh thank you thank you
06:58
Christine yeah as
06:59
as Vicki was sharing we have multiple
07:01
board committees so we have the audit
07:03
committee which has
07:05
all the board members on it and and some
07:08
um
07:08
some of our community members which i'll
07:10
share with you in a second
07:12
the communication committee where we
07:14
don't have community members
07:16
a part of it but we think that that
07:18
would we would like that right
07:19
then we have our new community advisory
07:21
committee on anti-racism diversity and
07:24
social justice
07:25
we have our facilities committee where
07:27
we do have community members we have a
07:28
green committee and a
07:30
and we have a policy committee where we
07:31
haven't had community members a part of
07:33
it
07:33
a wellness committee and now um
07:36
the board will be moving forward with
07:39
membership on the health and safety
07:41
committee as a part of project save
07:43
legislation
07:44
if you look at like who is a part of
07:47
these committees other than the board
07:49
there is um there's huge variation
07:52
across the across our committee so we
07:54
have a lot of
07:56
participation on the wellness committee
07:58
not as much participation on the audit
08:00
committee
08:00
and again health and safety green
08:02
committee a lot of participation
08:05
but we don't have participation on
08:08
certain committees where we feel like
08:10
it's really important for that
08:11
participation to exist so then the
08:13
conversation
08:16
around all right if we'd like to have
08:18
participation on our committees
08:20
how do we reach out to the community to
08:23
solicit
08:24
interested members of the community to
08:26
participate in our
08:28
in our committees and then how do we
08:30
pick who those members are
08:32
and then there there are times where you
08:34
know you we probably would want members
08:36
of the faculty of part of
08:37
certain committees or you'd want
08:39
students as a part of committees
08:41
so coming up with a process that's fair
08:43
that we
08:44
um can share out with people to solicit
08:46
interest
08:47
and then a way for them to give us that
08:49
feedback so then the board can decide
08:51
okay based on what our specific needs
08:53
are
08:54
and that given committee ship who would
08:57
be best suited to be a part of that
09:00
and then have a process where everyone
09:02
knows
09:03
who's a part of that committee so if
09:05
they have feedback they could reach out
09:07
to any of those committee members and
09:08
bring it back to the group
09:10
when we're grappling with certain issues
09:12
so part of talking about today
09:14
as a group so we can help the board do
09:17
their work is
09:18
how do you want us to reach out on your
09:20
behalf to the community to solicit
09:22
membership for our committees and how do
09:25
you want to go about communicating out
09:26
to the committee
09:28
the community who's on these specific
09:31
committees so everyone's very clear
09:33
about
09:35
um who's who's engaged in that work with
09:37
us at the at the district level
09:38
so what you see is you see um
09:42
some really robust committees that have
09:44
a lot of membership
09:45
and then other committees that don't and
09:46
how can we streamline that
09:48
and have a process in place that we all
09:50
feel comfortable with that's consistent
09:52
across
09:52
the district and we've been talking
09:54
about this for about three years so
09:56
i'm excited that we're gonna be at a
09:57
place hopefully at the end of this
09:58
conversation or at least shortly
10:00
when we're going to have um a firmed up
10:03
and consistent
10:04
process that we use collectively across
10:06
the district so
10:09
one of the things that strikes me is the
10:11
number
10:12
of community members on each committee
10:15
and whether it makes sense to make a
10:18
decision across the committees
10:20
on on a set number
10:23
Vicky I was actually thinking we might
10:26
want to look at the committees
10:27
and decide what types of roles we would

10:31
want
10:32
there and if it we say committee that
10:34
we'd want community members
10:36
then take a look at how many because
10:38
some of these
10:40
while they are community members i think
10:43
that they are there for a specific
10:46
role that they play in the community
10:48
which to me isn't the same as just a
10:50
general community member
10:53
i also think that there are a couple
10:55
questions we should think about
10:56
as we approach this one is
11:00
what is sort of the largest size for a
11:02
committee to be functional
11:03
um especially because i think that for
11:07
committees to do work effectively you
11:08
want people to consistently come to
11:10
meetings
11:11
and if people feel like there are enough
11:12
people there that they don't have to
11:13
show up they may not
11:15
um and so i think that we want to talk
11:18
about like effective group
11:19
size but also making sure that that
11:22
people really
11:23
do come when they're on the committee so
11:25
that committee can continue to be
11:27
productive
11:28
and i wonder if part of a way to do that
11:30
is to think about committees in terms of
11:32
having terms
11:33
and that if you join a committee you
11:35
join a committee for a period of x
11:37
number of years and i don't know what
11:39
that would be um but that
11:41
people know what they're signing on for
11:43
and for how long they're signing on and
11:44
could always reapply to a committee if
11:46
they wanted to but wouldn't necessarily
11:48
feel like they were bound to it or on it
11:50
for
11:51
forever Christine is that something we
11:54
can actually do
11:56
have time have terms on the company
11:59
that's a good question i mean you would
12:01
it depends on your i mean we
12:04
uh one of our only committees that has a
12:07
process of appointment is the audit
12:08
committee
12:10
and that's an annual appointment but i
12:12
think that you can ask people to give a
12:14
two to three or one your commitment
12:17
as a part of your process for soliciting
12:20
acts
12:21
i think that's reasonable but then we'd
12:23
still maybe still reappoint them every
12:25
year if we needed to
12:27
right because you know you haven't the
12:29
board may change
12:30
right i think what would be helpful
12:32
though even though we reappoint every
12:34
year
12:34
i think people have the expectation of
12:36
being on the committee and one thing we
12:38
might like to think of
12:39
is just getting new ideas once in a
12:41
while so maybe
12:43
just setting parameters for maybe
12:46
three to five years i mean maybe five
12:49
years is too long
12:50
a board term is three years so maybe you
12:52
know taking off on that
12:54
idea it would be fair to say to people
12:56
expect a three-year term
12:58
and then um maybe we don't have
13:00
community members our companies
13:03
maybe we have our committees but then we
13:06
have
13:07
some advisory committees to go along
13:09
with that like we have
13:11
a facilities committee that would we
13:13
don't need i don't know if we need
13:14
all the people on the facilities
13:16
committee but we have a facilities
13:17
committee
13:18
and um
13:22
with maybe one two three maybe six
13:25
people on it
13:26
but then we have a facilities advisory
13:28
committee that meets
13:29
once a quarter go through with us
13:32
because if we have a facilities
13:33
committee meeting trying to get 15
13:35
18 people together it's a horror thing
13:38
so if we had
13:39
i'm not even saying who should be on the
13:41
committee or not but two board members
13:42
administer
13:43
christine administrator john and
13:48
i don't know who else but anyway we have
13:50
a small committee
13:51
and then we have a facilities advisory
13:54
committee just like we have a green
13:55
advisory committee we have a
13:57
health and wellness advisory committee
14:01
i i think um it seems to me
14:04
um i can't recall who said it earlier
14:06
about you know that each committee
14:08
is is quite different some are mandated
14:10
by state some are like like
14:12
communications doesn't have people on it
14:15
um
14:16
from the community and yet you know the
14:18
green committee has
14:20
um the wellness committee does rather
14:24
um and they really all serve different
14:26
functions so for me
14:27
and and i think the numbers may vary
14:29
depending on what the committee is like
14:31
when you talk about the audit committee
14:33
you know right now um we have people on
14:36
there
14:36
that have a particular skill set that
14:38
they can come in and talk about because
14:39
that's their background
14:40
you know in in finance etc and that's
14:43
very helpful
14:44
uh that's a very small committee and
14:45
it's a very exactly and it's small
14:48
and it needs to be small also you know
14:50
we're talking
14:51
about um you know confidential financial
14:54
stuff with the district etc
14:55
same with communications like if we try
14:57
to set a number and have a lot of people
14:59
so many people have varying opinions on
15:02
what communication
15:03
should be uh throughout the district and
15:06
we do also have some
15:07
sensitive stuff that we have to
15:08
communicate so again it has a different
15:11
tenor
15:12
and yet you have health and safety when
15:13
we're talking about like when we've done
15:15
things about strategic planning or
15:18
safety plans for the district
15:19
you might want broad district
15:21
representation there because you might
15:22
want
15:23
you know parents of school children town
15:25
residents faculty etc if we're talking
15:27
about let's say making changes to the
15:29
buildings
15:29
or what have you so i think you want
15:32
more people on that committee so i i
15:34
have a hard
15:35
time like with a hard number for each
15:37
committee i think every
15:39
committee is very unique and some just
15:41
in terms of functionality we would want
15:44
smaller and some because of the need for
15:47
varying opinions we would want
15:48
larger that's that's kind of how i feel
15:51
a little bit about that if that's at all
15:52
possible
15:54
yeah i feel the same way i was putting
15:55
the question out there just to open up
15:57
the issue
15:58
uh the committee on on race and uh
16:00
diversity for instance needs
16:02
representation on many different levels
16:04
we have two board members on there
16:06
already so that's right
16:08
we do need an administrator we want
16:09
students we want alumni
16:11
we want parents at different grade
16:14
levels
16:14
we want perhaps someone with
16:16
professional expertise on race and
16:18
education
16:19
um we want a town liaison we perhaps
16:22
want someone from the interfaith council
16:24
right so that already uh as i was
16:28
thinking about that one that took me
16:29
already to maybe
16:31
14 to 15 members so right you may want
16:33
to try to cut that but i very much
16:35
do believe that the purpose of the
16:37
committee would dictate the number of
16:39
people
16:40
and maybe we work that out when perhaps
16:42
we put out an application
16:44
to the community an application for
16:46
membership on these committees or
16:48
as warren said advisory committees to to
16:51
the board into the committees
16:52
um with a state you know so they could
16:55
submit a statement of interest
16:57
and perhaps put the purpose of the
16:59
committee
17:00
on that application and the number of
17:03
people that we might be looking for
17:05
for that particular right or a range
17:06
like we're looking for you know
17:09
four to six people or eight to ten
17:10
people or something like that
17:12
right so there would be an application
17:13
for each committee with a sort of
17:15
preamble or paragraph as to the purpose
17:18
and scope
17:19
and goals and the number and the range
17:21
of number that we're looking for
17:24
i have a question for Christine which is
17:26
like some of the ones that are mandated
17:27
by state
17:28
whether it's you know a health and
17:30
safety committee or you know a wellness
17:32
committee et cetera
17:33
like are ones that are mandated are
17:36
there any
17:37
is there any number situation or is
17:40
there any
17:41
representative requirement like you need
17:43
someone from
17:44
like each elementary middle and high
17:46
school level you need
17:47
certain district administrators like are
17:49
there certain requirements for some of
17:50
those that we may not be aware of
17:52
no that not that would impact this
17:54
process they're pretty vague and how you
17:57
um and how you decide to move forward
18:00
with your committees
18:02
okay in terms of membership with the
18:04
exception
18:05
of like for example on your health and
18:09
safety committee there's certain
18:10
required numbers
18:12
okay that's like compliance officers
18:15
yeah things like that
18:16
yeah that's tied to project save
18:18
legislation so we we would take care of
18:20
the required members and there's not
18:21
many and there's only really
18:23
a number of committees that have
18:24
required members on them but for the
18:26
purposes of what
18:27
your scope is it's who out there has
18:30
some expertise that they would like to
18:32
bring into the district to help us do
18:34
our work and there's a lot of latitude
18:36
in who you pick
18:38
i think maybe i like warren's idea
18:41
about the advisory committees especially
18:43
because it seems to me
18:45
that these committees also sort of fall
18:47
into two groups in terms of
18:49
regularity of meetings so some of them
18:51
seem like groups that either need to
18:53
meet regularly or need to be available
18:55
to meet regularly that if something
18:57
comes up they need to be able to to get
18:59
together quickly and meet and take care
19:00
of whatever needs to be done
19:02
whereas others do seem like committees
19:04
that meet quarterly and that that's a
19:06
reasonable expectation
19:08
because i also think that as we're i
19:10
like Vicky's idea in terms of
19:11
recruitment
19:12
but i think we also have to be very
19:13
clear in terms of what we're recruiting
19:14
them for in terms of a time commitment
19:16
and i mean that both in terms of
19:18
frequency of meetings and
19:20
it can be up front that you know it may
19:21
be a lot in the beginning and then it'll
19:23
be less frequent
19:24
or whatever it is but also in terms of
19:26
the best guess as to when the meetings
19:28
would be
19:29
um because obviously there are going to
19:30
be people for whom daytime meetings are
19:33
impossible or nighttime meetings may be
19:34
impossible you know whatever it is
19:36
um i think that the more information we
19:38
can provide people in terms of
19:41
not only what the work of the committee
19:42
is but what the commitment would look
19:44
like
19:44
um i think that's the most sort of
19:47
fair way to do it
19:52
so in terms of the broad you know the
19:54
information we would seek on the
19:55
applications
19:56
um i would i was thinking of you know
20:00
aside from stating the purpose and goals
20:01
and i think you have a good idea Hilary
20:03
on stating the time commitment
20:07
to find out why the applicants would
20:10
want to be
20:11
on the committee what their experiences
20:14
are
20:14
personal or professional
20:18
somehow ascertain their ability to work
20:21
collaboratively
20:22
with different people and the
20:25
willingness to make the time
20:26
you know the time commitment
20:30
so those are just some broad
20:34
broad questions and if anyone has any
20:37
more input on that i would appreciate it
20:40
and the way that i was thinking we would
20:42
proceed is to just get a general
20:43
understanding
20:45
at this meeting and that perhaps
20:47
christine
20:49
holly and i could work on
20:52
you know different perhaps different
20:54
applications and how they look for
20:56
different committees
20:57
and send them send them out to you or
21:00
yeah i think
21:01
and approved this um on on august 5th
21:05
i think we could have um right i think
21:08
we could have a a pretty straightforward
21:10
application in the sense that you could
21:12
just say like
21:13
you know your name your um
21:16
residence how long you've been a
21:18
resident of the community do you have
21:19
like
21:20
list if if or if not if you have or had
21:23
children in the school district and what
21:25
your interest is
21:26
in the committee um based on um
21:30
personal just on interest like exp and
21:33
including professional experience so it
21:35
could be personal experience like it's
21:36
an area of interest or and i have
21:38
professional experience and
21:39
what you'd be able to give in terms of
21:41
your time like we could make it pretty
21:42
simple and
21:43
leave it open for someone to say like
21:46
you know why they're interested in a
21:47
particular committee what their time
21:48
commitment is
21:49
you know what what they what their role
21:51
is in the district and then they submit
21:53
it just so we could streamline it and
21:54
make it pretty
21:55
straightforward you know and i guess we
21:58
would
21:58
send it out in the sometime at the end
22:01
of the school year or early in the
22:02
summer et cetera
22:04
like would that make sense in terms of
22:07
making a decision over the summer or we
22:08
should send it out like during this like
22:11
the end of the school year kind of
22:12
situation well i think um i think we'd
22:15
send
22:16
send it out at the beginning of the
22:17
school year now maybe at the end of the
22:19
summer because
22:20
we'd be making a decision
22:21
[Music]
22:23
i mean just in general so i thought we
22:25
would approve some of these committees
22:27
on
22:28
august 5th i i for this year yes it
22:31
would be different but i'm talking about
22:33
like
22:33
um otherwise like in years to come yes
22:36
um
22:37
yeah it would make sense to do it at the
22:39
end of the year because we wouldn't want
22:40
we would want to start the year fresh
22:42
right now
22:45
i'm not saying July 1 i'm thinking you
22:47
know before September
22:49
right i'm sorry um
22:53
holly did you say something yeah i was
22:54
just gonna say actually you know on a
22:56
going forward basis it'd be nice if we
22:59
could
23:00
you know ratify the committees um
23:03
at our reorganization meeting right
23:06
exactly
23:07
but but for now i think were you
23:10
thinking Vicky that we'd be able to
23:11
actually
23:13
approve the members of the committee on
23:18
august 5th or
23:21
to approve of um well i guess we have to
23:24
prove moving forward
23:25
yeah in the way that we've stated and
23:27
i'm not sure there's enough time to
23:29
gather
23:30
um applications from everyone because
23:32
it's the summer and even though
23:34
you know this is a coveted world people
23:37
may not be paying as close attention now
23:40
the only thing i would ask
23:41
for yeah the only thing i would ask for
23:45
is that we have to approve the audit
23:46
committee
23:47
on the next meeting because we have a
23:49
lot of work that we do over the summer
23:50
with the external internal auditors and
23:54
the committee members we have are very
23:56
dedicated we don't have a big committee
23:58
a large committee um and
24:01
uh they all have uh
24:04
specialties that they have expertise
24:06
that they're bringing
24:07
right right
24:10
we continue with the audit committee the
24:12
way it is get let's i mean
24:13
unless somebody want doesn't want to be
24:15
honest but i believe all three members
24:16
want to
24:17
and then we go from there i think that's
24:20
a time sensitive one warren and i i
24:22
agree with you it's
24:23
time sensitive and and has a a finite
24:26
task
24:27
in a certain way and i think that i
24:29
don't think we should make
24:30
changes to the audit committee this year
24:32
because we have business to take care of
24:35
so i agree with you and i think but i
24:37
think then we can have them be part of
24:39
the general picture when we enact all of
24:41
this
24:44
every year i ask the committee members
24:46
if they want to continue working with
24:47
the committee
24:48
and you know a couple years ago we had
24:51
um
24:52
David Shimer dropped out because he was
24:55
moving so we asked Chris Dalrymple
24:57
you know we we asked it aboard me if
24:59
anyone wanted to be on the committee
25:01
we had we put a note out saying uh this
25:03
is what we were looking for
25:05
and Chris Dalrymple volunteered so
25:08
that's how we that's we
25:09
we don't get a lot of people voluntarily
25:11
volunteers rewarded it's not such a uh
25:16
i don't know facilities and some of
25:18
these communities seem to have like more
25:20
not fun but it's very specific
25:23
very specialized
25:26
all right yes i also think our new
25:31
advisory committee on
25:32
race diversity issue needs to get
25:34
started yes
25:36
so you know i we may as well
25:39
just try for all the committees unless
25:41
that people think that's just
25:43
too much going out at the same time i
25:46
guess i have a question which is
25:48
with some of our committees that are
25:49
currently very large
25:52
um is our intention to
25:56
leave those the same to try to start
25:58
over to
25:59
get like i i guess that's i'm almost
26:01
more
26:03
i don't know concerns the wrong word but
26:05
wondering what to do with some of the
26:07
committees that are huge then how do we
26:09
staff the committees that are not huge
26:13
like do we do we turn them into advisory
26:16
committees is that something we can even
26:17
do
26:18
um yes we can do that i really like the
26:22
idea of the
 

26:24
warren mentioned of having a the board
26:27
facilities committee which is really the
26:29
group that's making the recommendations
26:31
and the facilities advisory committee
26:34
which is where we
26:35
broaden out um and i think it would be
26:38
good to have the facilities
26:40
advisory as well as the facilities
26:42
committee pretty well ironed out at the
26:44
next meeting too
26:45
assuming that we're going to get
26:47
construction moving again soon
26:51
i think i think these are your
26:54
committees
26:55
and you should consider with the
26:57
exception of the audit committee
26:59
redoing the application process for all
27:02
of them
27:04
i think the the impetus for this was to
27:06
treat
27:07
all of the committees in pretty much the
27:10
same way
27:11
i don't want to say equally but
27:12
equitably somehow and give people the
27:14
opportunity
27:17
to be on these committees because right
27:19
now i feel that
27:20
it's been somewhat insular that
27:22
whoever's on the committee
27:24
stays on the committee and other people
27:26
might not have the opportunity
27:28
so it doesn't mean that we don't pick
27:31
the people we need with expertise who
27:32
have been on the committee but
27:34
i think we just open it up to the whole
27:36
community
27:37
and you know start a new process so
27:42
sorry good so my preference would be
27:46
to create an application process that we
27:49
then send out
27:51
to the community by the end of the month
27:54
and then see what we get back and um
27:59
i mean i would love to have a whole
28:00
committee list by august
28:02
5th that we can approve at our regular
28:03
meeting
28:05
um that's a very tight time frame it's
28:08
an ambitious
28:09
schedule but um at the very least we
28:12
might have
28:13
a a list of committee members to approve
28:15
at our September meeting
28:21
so that's what i'd like to shoot for i'm
28:24
fine with that with the exception of i
28:26
hear what warren's saying about keeping
28:28
audit intact and so maybe we remove
28:30
audit from this process this year
28:33
um at least and and move forward with
28:36
that with everything else because i
28:37
think that
28:39
i think that that his point is well
28:41
taken that the audit committee needs to
28:43
to remain and that we need to make sure
28:45
we can approve them on the fifth
28:47
um i also though i guess my slate
28:50
concern because i like the idea
28:52
globally but i wonder if i mean maybe
28:54
people aren't that checked out right now
28:56
because
28:57
they're watching to see all sorts of
28:58
information from the district
29:00
um but i do wonder if some of this is
29:02
hard over the summer in terms of getting
29:05
people to commit
29:10
yeah i agree with you Hilary and i'm on
29:12
the fence about this
29:14
but we um we really need some of these
29:17
committees to start
29:18
in earnest in September so i guess it's
29:22
really a timing strategy as to when we
29:24
send out the application process maybe
29:26
we do
29:26
two communications on it we can do one
29:30
by the end of the month
29:31
and one
29:34
maybe after the august 5th meeting
29:38
then we could be ready in September i
29:41
think being ready in September seems
29:43
seems more realistic than i mean i don't
29:45
think that we could do all this and
29:46
approve it on
29:47
august 5th which is i think the tax
29:49
warrant meeting but if we could approve
29:51
these committees because people are on
29:54
vacation they have a lot of issues going
29:56
on with
29:56
that they're focusing on with getting
29:58
kids back to school etc
30:00
um i i agree with warren and Hilary
30:03
that i really think that we should leave
30:04
the audit committee intact for now
30:07
because i think that's important um
30:10
i also think that um
30:15
but i think if we put out an application
30:17
that we
30:18
we should be able even though that in a
30:20
reminder and get it all done by
30:23
early September with a lot of the other
30:24
committees I think that's
30:26
doable that personally i think that
30:28
that's okay
30:29
um and i also like the structure like
30:31
what what holly was saying
30:32
about facilities having like a smaller
30:35
committee
30:36
and then having an advisory committee i
30:39
i personally think
30:40
that that would work as well for
30:43
communications
30:44
um because i think there's a lot of that
30:46
that needs to be a smaller group in
30:48
terms of
30:48
making fast decisions that without too
30:51
many voices in the room sometimes with
30:53
district communication that's critical
30:55
but yet
30:56
it's very important that we hear from
30:58
other people in terms of
30:59
where are we lacking in communication
31:01
how could we improve and i think an
31:03
advisory committee might be helpful with
31:05
that one as well i don't know if anyone
31:06
has thoughts on that
31:07
actually sorry go ahead holly
31:11
i was thinking when you were talking
31:12
about the communications committee and
31:13
maybe having an advisory committee
31:15
i was actually wondering if we should
31:16
have the community relations committee
31:18
instead of
31:19
a communications advisory committee um
31:22
it could come it could play this
31:24
that role but um but but broader
31:31
so you're saying like create a new
31:32
committee
31:34
uh yes
31:37
but uh well i think for the board the
31:41
communications committee would serve
31:42
that
31:44
purpose i think that
31:47
we could have an advisory committee to
31:50
the communications committee with the
31:51
idea that that's sort of the role they
31:53
would play
31:53
right that's what i was thinking rather
31:56
than create another committee which then
31:58
has you know uh
32:01
requirements for community membership
32:03
and board membership and such i think
32:05
that
32:06
it's as long as that's how we define the
32:08
role of the admin the advisory committee
32:10
i think that
32:11
it would serve the same purpose and
32:13
probably be more streamlined
32:15
yeah and the goal is more important than
32:17
the name of the committee and that
32:18
that would be spelled out in the
32:20
application
32:22
yeah so but that's what i was thinking
32:23
more for the communications
32:25
advisory committee to to play a role
32:27
more like a
32:29
community relations committee so with a
32:31
broader view than
32:32
just communications because there's
32:35
other pieces to community relations
32:37
you know like where where do they see us
32:40
at events things like that
32:42
i just i feel like it could be broader
32:44
but
32:45
tied to the communications yeah
32:49
we also so for communications
32:52
facilities and probably policy yeah we
32:55
all
32:55
we need advisory committees for for
32:58
those three
32:59
particular groups right and then
33:01
everyone else should have a full
33:02
standing committee
33:03
so then the question will be after you
33:05
see the interest
33:07
is how are you going to staff
33:12
the advisory and full standing
33:13
committees so the so these
33:15
the structure is as similar as it
33:18
possibly can be given that
33:20
the the nature of the what the committee
33:22
work is right
33:23
because on each of those areas you're
33:25
going to want to have parents
33:27
general right expertise probably
33:30
some faculty and maybe some
33:33
administration right
33:35
so but i think the first part is like
33:37
let's let's see what the interest is
33:40
and that's a good place to start right
33:43
and then
33:43
who's making the decisions to choose the
33:46
members
33:48
i think it's that it's my opinion would
33:51
be
33:52
these are your members right so the
33:55
board members who are on that
33:57
commitment on that committee so we bring
33:59
that work
34:00
back to the board the way we bring
34:01
committee work back to the board it's a
34:03
recommendation from the committee
34:05
to the whole board at a board meeting
34:10
should we though is part of the work
34:12
that we need to do today before we send
34:14
out this application
34:16
to come up with what we anticipate being
34:19
those
34:20
committee sizes like i don't think it
34:21
should be a decision we make
34:24
based on the number of applications we
34:25
get i think that we want to
34:28
know how many seats we're hoping to fill
34:31
and obviously if we don't get enough
34:32
applications that's a different issue
34:34
but i don't i don't want to be in a
34:36
position where it looks like
34:38
we've created the committee or advisory
34:41
committee
34:42
sizes based on who's applied like i'd
34:44
feel much more comfortable
34:45
if the sizes were set out at least you
34:48
know within a range
34:49
before sending out the applications so
34:52
we would then decide today
34:54
but it would be based on on the goal and
34:56
purpose of the committee
34:58
right and what the blends that we want
35:00
yeah i would be comfortable
35:02
with what we've just discussed to leave
35:04
it in the hands of the committee itself
35:06
and ultimately
35:07
it's decided by the board i'm just
35:10
afraid of making a quick decision
35:12
now and just as a reminder this was
35:15
meant to be a
35:16
a work session uh we had we had this as
35:19
a special board meeting because we had
35:20
an exact session
35:22
but i don't think that we were prepared
35:24
to make a hard and fast decision
35:27
today unless you know we could sit here
35:30
for a while and go through every
35:32
committee but i think that without
35:34
having a stated
35:36
specific stated goal in front of us so
35:39
we could think clearly about it i think
35:41
it would be
35:42
just out of context to come up with a
35:44
number
35:46
but is your anticipation that let's say
35:48
as warren and i are sitting on the
35:51
the policy committee would is is it your
35:54
anticipation that he and i would figure
35:56
out with Christine like
35:57
how big do we want the advisory
35:59
committee to be before
36:00
before we send out the application it's
36:02
like whatever works i don't think
36:04
no i'd like that to be
36:08
the applications i don't believe the
36:10
policy committee has an advisory
36:11
committee
36:12
no the policy committee is basically the
36:15
administration the board
36:17
we set policy for the district we don't
36:19
[Music]
36:20
we do that on our own that's nice but
36:22
Christine just said that we should have
36:24
an advisory committee yeah and so
36:29
thinking around that is um you know the
36:31
code of conduct of conduct
36:32
right and if we're going to have a
36:34
policy around
36:35
um valedictorians salutatorians
36:38
those kind of conversations at times
36:41
would be helpful to bring
36:43
people in to our meetings in an advisory
36:46
capacity
36:47
that's agreed but i don't think we need
36:49
an advisory committee Christine i think
36:51
you know we like anything else you're
36:52
bringing experts or
36:55
or administrators when we when we
36:59
when we have a question so i think we'll
37:00
continue that with policy
37:03
but i think that we would want something
37:05
in place so that when these questions
37:06
come up we have that
37:08
advisory committee in place to assist us
37:10
like we know we have
37:11
questions coming up now with code of
37:13
contact that we've discussed
37:15
um so i think there may be times where
37:19
some of these advisory committees aren't
37:21
you know leaned on for because there's
37:23
not
37:23
a particular need for them but they
37:24
should be in place when there
37:26
is i think but that's policy is so
37:29
specific if you have
37:31
if we're talking about a policy on
37:33
valedictorian
37:34
and that type of thing we don't we don't
37:37
need
37:39
we're an advisory committee for that we
37:41
we need to pull in the
37:43
experts like the principal high school
37:46
maybe
37:47
a high school student whatever but if
37:50
we're talking about
37:52
a a commit we're talking about
37:56
a credit card policy i don't think we
37:57
need to have a
37:59
advisory committee for that we pull in
38:01
people we need
38:02
well that raises another question to me
38:04
actually warren what you're
38:06
saying is is because it's something i
38:08
had thought about
38:12
three committees like and take policy
38:15
for example
38:16
um or communication so there may be
38:19
times where
38:20
you know the two board members on policy
38:23
and Christine talk about let's see
38:26
change that's required by this
38:28
we would not be going to the um advisory
38:32
committee
38:32
because also that's that's more
38:35
confidential matters and it really
38:37
doesn't involve the advisory committee
38:38
and you need to make some quick
38:39
decisions and get language in that's
38:40
going to be approved by the board
38:42
um so when we have meetings like we
38:44
notice a policy committee meeting there
38:46
may be times where it's
38:47
just that core policy committee when do
38:50
the other people know that they're
38:52
coming in as
38:53
in an advisory capacity like there may
38:54
need to be meetings that include the
38:56
advisor
38:56
advisory committee and meetings that
38:58
don't so how do we deal with that
39:00
i think it's going to depend on the
39:01
issue so there are times when policy
39:04
deals with
39:04
issues that are confidential like with
39:06
the staff or with students
39:08
so in that case of course the advisory
39:10
committee would not come in
39:11
but then there are issues where the
39:13
policy committee has traditionally
39:15
sought
39:15
advice outside of the committee and so
39:18
it's usually with the administrators
39:21
um sometimes with faculty
39:25
and at times we may need parents as well
39:28
so
39:28
let's say we're dealing with the
39:30
bullying policy
39:32
harassment and discrimination policy as
39:33
it's called uh we might want input from
39:36
parents to know what experiences are
39:38
we might want input from from the pta we
39:41
might might want all kinds of um
39:43
you know different voices that come in
39:45
to talk about experiences
39:47
so that we know whether we need to tweak
39:49
the policies or
39:51
have new policies so there are times
39:53
when we do need the community to weigh
39:55
in and have
39:56
input in an organized way so we're not
39:59
required
40:01
to have the advisory committee be in all
40:04
of the
40:04
committee decisions but it's there when
40:07
we want it when we need it
40:09
and i think we also want to treat these
40:11
committees
40:13
and you know community voice equally
40:17
yes i i was just saying in terms of
40:18
noticing it so they know their
40:20
commitment like if we come up with a
40:21
calendar each year and there's
40:23
x number of policy meetings um
40:27
like there may not be a need for the
40:30
like everyone should notice that but
40:31
they may not need to attend everyone
40:33
depending on what's going on do you know
40:35
what i'm saying
40:36
i would assume Jane that there would be
40:38
a separate schedule
40:40
for your for your board and exactly
40:44
because the advisory committees are
40:46
probably almost exclusively going to
40:47
have to meet in evenings
40:50
you know assuming that we're pulling
40:52
from the the working
40:54
community and or and faculty and what
40:56
have you or they're going to have to
40:57
meet after school hours etc
40:59
yes so i i mean i would envision there
41:01
being almost a separate schedule and
41:04
you keep the advisory ones on
41:07
on schedule when you need them you
41:09
cancel them when you don't
41:11
you know i doubt very much that this is
41:13
going to be a one size fits all
41:15
and so that's why you know having spoken
41:17
about these broad parameters
41:19
i would suggest that we all go back into
41:21
our committees and
41:24
decide what you know maybe come out with
41:26
a statement maybe a paragraph statement
41:28
of what you think the purpose
41:30
of the committee is and what you want to
41:32
state on the application
41:34
and uh start off the process that way so
41:37
that we have
41:38
a way to go about this that structure
41:41
on august 5th yeah could i also
41:44
recommend that
41:45
as we as go into our committees and we
41:48
set up the
41:49
the purpose or the or the goal for each
41:51
of the
41:52
committees but also if there are
41:54
specific roles from the community
41:56
that we would like to uh bring in
42:00
so if it's uh like for example
42:03
we're talking about um
42:07
facilities and we want to have the
42:11
parks and rec person for example from
42:14
the town i don't know that's just an
42:15
example that i'm making up but
42:17
just if there's a certain role that need
42:20
that we would want represented
42:22
on the committee that's not part of the
42:24
on the advisory committee
42:25
that we also have a list of who those
42:27
people would or who those positions
42:28
would be
42:29
not the people but right like i think
42:32
and that might be helpful Christine like
42:33
i i'm wondering if like
42:35
certain things we have now like you know
42:37
we have a health and safety committee
42:39
you know we need someone from the police
42:40
department and we need
42:42
you know Joe Gramando or we need that
42:45
so we need a list of like who's
42:47
mandatory who we definitely need to have
42:49
representation from
42:51
and then we can sort of build off that
42:56
yeah yep right and if it's in the
42:59
application process
43:00
i did mean that it would be the goal of
43:02
the advisory committee
43:04
and not necessarily the the small
43:06
committee
43:07
but i think not all of them are going to
43:09
have advisory committees like i don't
43:11
think we decided like ever like
43:12
whether it's wellness or health and
43:14
safety or green they may not need um
43:15
advisory committees like just only i
43:18
think only certain ones
43:19
might but are you saying that what we
43:21
would do is go back after this meeting
43:23
and let's say like if if you and i are
43:26
on communications we're going to talk to
43:28
each other
43:28
and we're going to think of what we need
43:30
if you know whoever represents the
43:32
wellness committee
43:34
it may be it's a single person they're
43:36
going to say
43:37
let me find out who's on there now and
43:39
who we need and then i'm going to submit
43:40
to the full board what i think
43:42
that we're looking for does that not one
43:44
person could work with john and
43:45
Christine on that
43:46
exactly i think that's uh the one
43:49
organized way
43:50
of going about this that i can think of
43:52
yeah that seems to make sense
43:54
just uh something that i think we're
43:55
going to need to do
43:57
and i think we could do it here in the
44:00
work session
44:00
but we need to get a board we need to
44:02
designate a board member for the health
44:03
and safety committee
44:04
i i was thinking of that and i was going
44:06
to i was gonna volunteer for that
 

44:08
because i know just the way
44:10
that it went this year in terms of
44:12
committees that i ended up as more
44:14
liaison plus
44:15
i've been on the long and short term
44:18
like health and safety stuff so i
44:19
thought maybe i would offer
44:20
offer my services there if you want them
44:23
and
44:24
i would be fine with me Jane that's fine
44:26
do we need one or two people
44:27
on that because we don't need two people
44:30
on every committee some committees just
44:33
have one board member
44:34
i think that's one that would be good to
44:36
have two board members and
44:38
i was gonna also i was gonna offer if um
44:42
if it seems to make sense to have uh
44:44
someone who's also on the facilities
44:46
committee on the
44:47
safety committee
44:52
anyone else
44:56
okay
45:00
warren were you raising your hand are
45:01
you just putting your hand up
45:09
yeah yeah so what i'm hearing is that
45:13
maybe on like a shared document we can
45:17
share our committee descriptions and
45:20
our thinking around membership and then
45:23
we can come up with some sort of
45:26
applications not the right word but
45:28
way to reach out to have people give us
45:30
information back
45:32
if they're interested in being a part of
45:34
either the full committee or the
45:35
advisory committee
45:37
right so we'll work on that to have
45:40
something ready
45:41
for final editing on august 5th
45:45
that makes sense with the exception of
45:46
the audit committee
45:48
yeah that makes sense all right so then
45:50
i'll i'll uh i'll work on sharing
45:53
the um the document okay now Christine
45:56
you're going to share different
45:57
documents with different committee
45:58
members
45:59
are you going to share i think i'll
46:01
share one document
46:02
because the application should be the
46:04
same it's just the description
46:06
the whole thing should be one
46:07
communication with the description of
46:09
each committee
46:11
and then the process to give us feedback
46:14
if you want to
46:14
participate in it well and there's just
46:17
some stuff that we need like
46:18
like for example health and safety which
46:20
is required um
46:21
so we need whatever like that language
46:24
that why it's there and who we need is
46:26
part of that and
46:27
and go off there get that too i'll put
46:31
it let's put it all in one place so we
46:33
can get a google doc
46:35
that makes sense and it's a good way to
46:38
proceed
46:40
and then we would have to since we did
46:41
our committee memberships and at our
46:43
next meeting we'd also appoint like
46:44
add add myself and holly to the health
46:47
and safety committee
46:49
yep okay
46:52
all right i think that makes sense and
46:56
then we can we can brainstorm
46:57
whatever application process it is and
46:59
also you know
47:01
communicating that out to the community
47:02
because there are people like we may
47:04
want community representatives that
47:06
don't sign up for our emails that's
47:07
always a little bit of a challenge for
47:09
us to
47:10
to get the word out to community
47:11
residents that we may be seeking
47:13
representation from
47:14
right that would be the good the good
47:16
thing about talking about it in august
47:18
and then we have the meeting on
47:20
September 1st in the morning
47:22
so i was assuming and that's not a
47:24
typical meeting
47:26
so and i think the meeting after that is
47:28
september 16th
47:29
if i'm not mistaken how maybe we should
47:33
aim for that meeting the September 16th
47:35
meeting
47:36
which is a more opportunity to discuss
47:40
this on
47:40
august 5th and on September 1st
47:45
would that work you can also put on that
47:47
September 16th is the date yeah
47:49
could we in addition to email maybe just
47:51
put it on the um
47:53
you know that board in front of bell
47:54
that like tells you to do things
47:56
yeah that's a good idea because that
47:58
would that community residents would see
48:02
yeah and maybe um they the district
48:05
might be able
48:06
to twitter and facebook and
48:10
yeah all the all the usual means of
48:11
communication would be
48:13
would be a good idea mm-hmm
48:17
women how do we actually send uh notices
48:20
to people without kids in the district
48:22
uh usually we have budget information go
48:24
out there but that's not um
48:26
that's not an email list is it that's uh
48:29
the only time
48:31
the only time we do a mailing is for the
48:33
budget
48:35
we did an effort two years ago to send
48:37
postcards out to everyone in the
48:39
district to ask them to sign up for
48:41
our communication and we did get a
48:42
number of residents without children who
48:44
did that
48:45
but we use our i'm not that this reaches
48:48
everybody but we use our facebook our
48:50
website
48:51
and then we use our our our community
48:53
email system
48:56
we may also be able to ask um the town
48:58
to put it in one
48:59
their newsletter i know that doesn't
49:00
cover exactly everybody
49:03
but it's it's a good portion of um
49:06
people who might be yeah the town
49:09
e-blasts would be a good idea yeah good
49:11
idea holly all right
49:12
but also to specify they need to specify
49:15
that the
49:16
people applying would have to be
49:17
residents of CCSD
49:19
because the town does have certain
49:21
portions uh
49:22
that are not in our school district
49:24
right right and we also have an impact
49:26
not our mount our mount pleasant
49:28
constituents would not be
49:30
included in that well you know i think
49:32
anybody can sign up for that
49:34
and i think a lot of our mountain
49:35
pleasant residents who
49:37
are um pretty plugged into newcastle
49:40
town activities
49:42
even if it's not where they technically
49:45
live so i still think we'd have um
49:47
pretty good coverage there yeah
49:49
yeah so we can certainly ask them i can
49:52
reach out to them and ask them to do
49:54
that
49:54
once we have something ready
49:58
anything else
50:01
no i think that's helpful i think that
50:03
that just about
50:04
covers it no this is useful do we want a
50:08
date or deadline for getting our stuff
50:10
in the google doc like do we want to set
50:12
anything
50:14
well we want to have this ready by
50:16
august 5th
50:17
for our meeting you want to set it up
50:21
before the board meeting
50:24
i think that's July well um
50:28
do we need something specific for the
50:29
agenda we would need backup
50:31
maybe so maybe the Wednesday before
50:35
so we could have the backup i'm looking
50:39
all right so that would be the 29th
50:43
July 29th two weeks my 29th or
50:46
yeah okay
50:50
yeah we could have that roughed out in a
50:52
document by July 29th I think
50:56
okay that sounds that sounds good that
50:58
makes sense okay
50:59
okay that's it everyone then anything
51:02
else
51:04
nope nope okay we're good now we have a
51:07
public comment period
51:10
um we welcome public comments and in
51:13
respect for each other's time we ask
51:15
that you limit your comments to three
51:17
minutes
51:18
uh board members may be contacted via
51:20
email or phone if you have some
51:22
comment that's lengthier than three
51:23
minutes and after the public comment
51:26
period has been completed board members
51:27
may have a discussion among themselves
51:29
regarding
51:30
the comments presented so i know that we
51:33
have
51:34
some attendees we have about four and
51:37
so i'd like to ask if anyone has a
51:39
public comment today
51:48
anyone with the public comment
51:52
i'm just waiting i just um want to say
51:54
that once we pass public comment period
51:56
we usually don't go back
51:58
and um we are at the end of our meeting
52:01
so
52:03
i'll make one last call for public
52:05
comment
52:08
okay there are no public comments for
52:10
today
52:12
so i'll go to notice of future meetings
52:14
our next meeting is Wednesday August
52:16
5th at 7 30 p.m we'll be discussing the
52:19
tax warrant
52:21
and the following that will be Tuesday
52:23
September 1st
52:24
at 10 30 a.m on opening day
52:29
okay i have a motion to adjourn the
52:32
meeting
52:35
oh let Holly go that's fine Holly moves
52:38
i'll second Jane's seconds um all in
52:41
favor for joining the public meeting
52:43
at 1 53 p.m aye
52:46
Aye okay thank you everybody