School board and advisory committee settle differences over policy

The debate between the school board and the School Advisory Committee (SAC) ended how many bureaucratic disputes end: in a compromise.

On Oct. 7, the school board unanimously voted to adopt revisions to Board Policy 1220, which serves as the governing document for the secondary schools’ advisory committee. This policy, which also dictates the committee’s access to the school board, was the epicenter of a lingering dispute between the two parties.

According to committee members, their recommendations to the school board often went unanswered by Schools Superintendent Bill Burr or members of the board. However, Burr and board president Dave Wilson countered that the advisory committee was meant to advise the principal, and its recommendations fell outside the school board’s purview.

After the school board requested its policy committee retool BP-1220 on Sept. 16, the policy committee worked with members of the SAC to find a compromise. In the end, both sides ceded ground, but were happy enough with the final product to send it back to the school board for approval.

In the newly revised policy, proponents of limiting the committee’s access to the board can point to language defining the SAC as advisory “to the principal” as a victory. This was a point of contention, as the previous version of the committee’s bylaws stated that it was to make its recommendations through the principal “to the school board.”

However, those who wanted the committee to have direct access to the board will claim a victory of their own: The committee’s monthly meeting agenda will now appear in the meeting packets for the school board.

Additionally, the board agreed to invite committee members to participate in work sessions where “committee input could be heard and considered on topics related to the district.”

The committee’s bylaws will now be reviewed annually.

The SAC is the only school board committee whose members are not appointed directly by the board, with any member of the community eligible to join it. Outside of the persons-to-be-heard designated time slot at board meetings, the advisory committee serves as a pathway for community members to address questions, concerns or opinions about the schools.

The revised policy comes amid a recent emphasis on transparency and community input at the board level. Last year, John DeRuyter ran on a platform emphasizing both these positions, while Dan Powers ran a similar successful campaign in this year’s election.

At the Oct. 7 meeting, middle school teacher Laura Davies suggested another way the school board could improve its community involvement: She and several other teachers wish they could listen in on live-streamed board meetings from home.

“We read in the newspaper that the school board wants to engage the community more. This would actually be a way to do it,” she said. Davies said busy schedules and family commitments often prevent in-person attendance, but the ability to live stream the meetings while she is making dinner could be a step in the direction of increased community engagement.

The borough pays KSTK to broadcast regular borough assembly meetings live on the radio.