What's up this week

I feel like I should keep people apprised of what I'm doing in my Board of Ed role...you elected me, that means you have a right to know what I'm up to. So maybe this year, in addition to my topical posts, I'll try to give regular updates of just what I'm personally doing. It will probably help me keep myself organized, too. So, what am I up to this week?

The Board has a closed session Monday night. That means it's a meeting that is not open to the public. The reasons for a closed session are determined by law and they may include only topics in these categories: personnel, contracts, individual privacy issues or matters which are already confidential by law (eg., issues involving specific minors), pending or anticipated litigation, attorney-client privilege, purchase or lease of property or protecting public safety. While the discussions in closed sessions are private, any subsequent action taken by the board (eg., voting) must be taken in public. We will not be taking any public action after Monday's session.

Tuesday I have a meeting of the Board Communications Committee. We'll be discussing plans for the Communications Open Forum that is tentatively scheduled for March 3. I'll write more about this later, but basically we'd like to invite the public -- parents, taxpayers, business owners, etc. -- to come talk about District communications (what do we do well, what could we do better, what types of communications do people prefer, etc.). More info to come. The Communications Committee is also reviewing other districts' parent "satisfaction" surveys, with an eye toward developing our own survey or "report card." We'll also be talking about a communications plan for the referendum which could be held this September.

Tuesday morning I'm also going to try and attend the Hawes HSA meeting.

Wednesday I have the Fields Committee meeting at 7:00 AM (!). The Fields Committee is made up of representatives from the Village and Board of Ed as well as youth sports groups. I take it as a direct and personal challenge to make it to these early meetings.

So that's what I'll be doing this week. Let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Sometime this weekend I'll be posting about the referendum and the list of potential projects which was presented at our last public meeting. (You can see the entire spreadsheet by clicking here. Click on Bond Referendum Estimated Costs.)