Committee meeting on vision, goals, and policy

You can fnid the agenda here 
Backup on policy is here 
Reviewing the changes

HELD until the next meeting in October

Kootcher: aligning goals of committee with goals of superintendent
superintendent goals need to be considered in light of this
integration of policy and budget in practice
topical heading related to the goal may be selected
SC needs to decide which kind of goals they want to pursue
goals for the committee and/ or goals for meetings
many committees deal with their dealings with the public
many look at their role in improving student achievement
time for the School Committee to think about what its individual goals should be
Superintendent's goals related to district improvement and student learning
professional development for School Committee members, both as a body and for the community
district engagement: how their work may effect the social and emotional well being of students
fiduciary responsibilities of School Committee
most prudent School Committees take three or four goals
given that the Superintendent has been extremely specific in establishing student learning goals
"how what you do affects student achievement, public credibility, and moves the district forward"
get three or four priority areas on the board; identify the roles of the School Committee, then figure out how the role of the School Committee translate into those goals
"standards to which School Committtees are held are higher than about any other role in this country"
School Committees are held to a higher standard, to focus policy and to focus on direction; leave the management to the Superintendent (and City Manager)
in a plan E charter, it makes it a crime for the City Council to interfere (or try to) in the management of the city
"of course there are disagreements about what that intervention is"
"we fight very hard to get our members policies orientated on policy...and stay out of the weeds"
keeps the bad guys off our back

areas:

community outreach (suggestion was public hearings)
students (at risk,
student achievement (reading, student learning, district achievement, students at risk, absenteeism)
safety/ environment (community use, facilities,
professional development (annual self evaluation, training, code of ethics,
policy review
community outreach (forums, conducting meetings)
culture of visibility, transparency

"as a school committee member, there are many things you may do that you shouldn't do"
maintaining your own role,"that creates a very clear link between your role and the ethics law and the code of ethics"
Foley: "it's high level rather than operational"
using policy, budget, public discussion of student achievement...how can we advance the goal of student achievement
school committees have driven the focus on socio-emotional growth for students
"the board regulates itself"
"pay very close attention to policy, as you're binding yourself"


safety/environment
student achievement
professional development
education leadership/ community outreach
poicy review

putting those priorities into words and saying 'here's how we're going to do it'
not hard to put words to this
suggestion that the Mayor appoint a subcommittee to wordsmith policy
Mayor appoints O'Connell, Ramirez, and Novick to wordsmith goal language: Novick appointed chair