At a recent meeting of the Board of Education, the Board approved goals for the 2010-11 school year. These goals were developed during our Board Retreat on August 30, and discussed and refined in subsequent meetings. (Goals are followed by specific action plan items in italics.)
District Goals
1. Meet identified student achievement goals at each school.
a. Develop school-based student achievement goals and action plans and monitor implementation.
b. Survey other districts regarding gifted and talented programs.
2. Implement new online student information tools for families, staff and students.
a. Develop formal plan with timeline expectations for implementation of entire system.
b. Develop plan to integrate and/or discontinue current redundant software.
3. Realign and maintain professional development opportunities across the district.
a. Align with school goals and action plans.
b. Investigate consortia for professional development.
4. Manage and complete referendum building projects within budget.
Board Goals
1. Conduct a community planning process.
a. Involve community.
b. Develop administrator's action plans.
2. Advocate regarding specific educational issues affecting Ridgewood on a state level.
a. Involve the community in this effort.
3. Negotiate in good faith with the REA by evaluating, among other things, the financial and educational effect on the district of any potential contract settlements.
4. Focus on timely communication with the public as we evaluate the current financial planning process.
Showing posts with label Retreat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Retreat. Show all posts
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Goal-setting.
The Board of Education next meets on August 30. Aside from some regular BOE business, this is slated to be the Board's annual "Retreat." If you've been reading my blog from the beginning, you'll know that for the previous two years, I have bristled a little at that characterization. In the normal definition of a corporate retreat, a company's management goes off-site to take a big picture view of operations and discuss things like the mission and goals for the coming year. The retreat format allows for deeper, more philosophical discussions -- and participants are removed from the day-to-day minutia that normally interferes with this type of conceptual thinking.
The Board of Education "retreat" is substantially different.
#1 We don't go anywhere. We're required to meet in public, so we need to stay here in Ridgewood for public access.
#2 We can't spend any money, so we can't pay to use any other facility like a hotel conference room or something like that.
#3 We hold it as part of a regularly scheduled meeting, so the time we can spend is limited.
#4 The meeting is public, which does have an impact on the "frankness" of the discussions. Participants may be hesitant to discuss certain feelings or be critical of one's self or others, in a public forum. That's human nature.
#5 A representative from the New Jersey School Boards Association comes to "facilitate" our self-evaluation and goal-setting session.
I complain about this every year. I'm going to do so again this year.
I think the idea of a Board retreat is good one. I think we could benefit from some soul-searching and conceptual thinking about what we do and how we do it. I think removing ourselves physically from the Ed Center would help re-focus the conversation. Isn't there some way we could get more from the Retreat process? Isn't there anyplace else in Ridgewood or vicinity where we could meet? What about Village Hall? The Library? Maybe at one of our schools? Maybe there's some empty office space that a local landlord would loan for a day? And when I say "a day" I mean an entire day. Sure, the meeting could still be public...if anyone wants to sit around and watch us talk for a day, they would be welcome to do so...
These are my thoughts, once again, as we approach our annual retreat/meeting. In the meantime, I'm thinking about goals for the 2010 school year. The format is usually for the Board and administration to come up with a list of goals for the District, and a list of goals for the Board.
What do you think our goals should be for this new school year?
The Board of Education "retreat" is substantially different.
#1 We don't go anywhere. We're required to meet in public, so we need to stay here in Ridgewood for public access.
#2 We can't spend any money, so we can't pay to use any other facility like a hotel conference room or something like that.
#3 We hold it as part of a regularly scheduled meeting, so the time we can spend is limited.
#4 The meeting is public, which does have an impact on the "frankness" of the discussions. Participants may be hesitant to discuss certain feelings or be critical of one's self or others, in a public forum. That's human nature.
#5 A representative from the New Jersey School Boards Association comes to "facilitate" our self-evaluation and goal-setting session.
I complain about this every year. I'm going to do so again this year.
I think the idea of a Board retreat is good one. I think we could benefit from some soul-searching and conceptual thinking about what we do and how we do it. I think removing ourselves physically from the Ed Center would help re-focus the conversation. Isn't there some way we could get more from the Retreat process? Isn't there anyplace else in Ridgewood or vicinity where we could meet? What about Village Hall? The Library? Maybe at one of our schools? Maybe there's some empty office space that a local landlord would loan for a day? And when I say "a day" I mean an entire day. Sure, the meeting could still be public...if anyone wants to sit around and watch us talk for a day, they would be welcome to do so...
These are my thoughts, once again, as we approach our annual retreat/meeting. In the meantime, I'm thinking about goals for the 2010 school year. The format is usually for the Board and administration to come up with a list of goals for the District, and a list of goals for the Board.
What do you think our goals should be for this new school year?
Monday, July 19, 2010
Who says summer meetings are quiet?
Tonight's meeting of the Board of Education was for the most part a quiet affair, as meetings during the summer usually are. Dr. Fishbein updated us on referendum construction projects, which are rolling along. Big work starting at Hawes...Stevens Field is dug and draining is being installed...roofing projects all over the place. So far, so good. Our construction management company, Epic, is doing a great job of overseeing things and updating the administration and Facilities Committee.
We actually conducted some important business at tonight's meeting:
The Board passed a resolution opposing Governor Christie's proposal to cap school superintendents' salaries. We made some revisions during the meeting, so when the revised version is available in a day or so, I'll post it here.
The Board also approved going forward with a plan to install lights at the RHS Stadium and Stevens Fields, thanks to a financial partnership with many of the community sports programs, and high school parent booster groups. If you recall, during the referendum discussion last Fall, we talked about the need and desire for lights, but we wanted to wait and see if community sports groups were able to contribute to the funding. Over the past few weeks, a few remarkable things happened to lead to tonight's decision: first, the District solicited bids for the best, high-tech lights out there -- Musco lights are efficient and so well-targeted that there is no "light spill" just a few feet from the field. Next, the bids came in much lower than expected, and one contractor's prices were about $300,000 lower than the next bidder. Next, several youth sports groups and high school booster groups committed to funding over half the total cost, and Dr. Fishbein outlined a plan for the District the fund the remainder through a combination of donations to the District in exchange for "naming rights" of various facilities, through annual savings of approx. $10,000 in water expenses that will not be needed to water the turf fields, and, if necessary, with money saved in referendum project costs coming in much lower than projected.
Basically, the total cost of the lights is roughly $500,000 and it's a 5-year lease-purchase program. The sports groups will fund 100% of the installation -- $106,000 -- in the first year, then in years 2 through 5, the sports groups will fund $40,000 per year, and the BOE will fund $65,000. We could raise all the remaining funds through additional donations. It's definitely within reach. In any event, we'll have access to the leftover referendum funds in years 4-5 (that's when the projects will be complete), so the only "unknown" is our portion for years 2-3, which is about $130,000 (or $110,000 if you deduct the money we're saving by not watering the fields). There are already potential corporate donors "in the pipeline," who are eager to make donations in exchange for naming rights to fields or other facilities. (The Board already has a policy for naming rights...it is currently being updated.)
I'm really proud that we were able to work together, in partnership with the community, to make this happen. The arrangement is similar to what happened in the construction of Maple Field, when the sports groups worked with the Village and were so successful in their fundraising, that they were able to fulfill their financial commitment early.
Also at tonight's meeting, we approved a change to the school calendar for this year, 2010-11. As part of our budget cuts for this year, we eliminated paying teachers for extra time to conduct parent conferences outside of school hours. Instead, elementary schools will hold a half-day session on Election Day November 2, with teachers holding parent conferences in the afternoon. Additionally, all schools grade K-12 will be closed on November 3. On that day, grade K-5 teachers will conduct conferences, and grades 6-12 will do professional development. This will flow into the Teacher Convention Days, which are November 4 and 5.
The next Board of Ed meeting will be August 30. This will be our annual "Retreat," where we will set goals for the 2010-11 school year, and discuss our evaluation of our operations and effectiveness.
We actually conducted some important business at tonight's meeting:
The Board passed a resolution opposing Governor Christie's proposal to cap school superintendents' salaries. We made some revisions during the meeting, so when the revised version is available in a day or so, I'll post it here.
The Board also approved going forward with a plan to install lights at the RHS Stadium and Stevens Fields, thanks to a financial partnership with many of the community sports programs, and high school parent booster groups. If you recall, during the referendum discussion last Fall, we talked about the need and desire for lights, but we wanted to wait and see if community sports groups were able to contribute to the funding. Over the past few weeks, a few remarkable things happened to lead to tonight's decision: first, the District solicited bids for the best, high-tech lights out there -- Musco lights are efficient and so well-targeted that there is no "light spill" just a few feet from the field. Next, the bids came in much lower than expected, and one contractor's prices were about $300,000 lower than the next bidder. Next, several youth sports groups and high school booster groups committed to funding over half the total cost, and Dr. Fishbein outlined a plan for the District the fund the remainder through a combination of donations to the District in exchange for "naming rights" of various facilities, through annual savings of approx. $10,000 in water expenses that will not be needed to water the turf fields, and, if necessary, with money saved in referendum project costs coming in much lower than projected.
Basically, the total cost of the lights is roughly $500,000 and it's a 5-year lease-purchase program. The sports groups will fund 100% of the installation -- $106,000 -- in the first year, then in years 2 through 5, the sports groups will fund $40,000 per year, and the BOE will fund $65,000. We could raise all the remaining funds through additional donations. It's definitely within reach. In any event, we'll have access to the leftover referendum funds in years 4-5 (that's when the projects will be complete), so the only "unknown" is our portion for years 2-3, which is about $130,000 (or $110,000 if you deduct the money we're saving by not watering the fields). There are already potential corporate donors "in the pipeline," who are eager to make donations in exchange for naming rights to fields or other facilities. (The Board already has a policy for naming rights...it is currently being updated.)
I'm really proud that we were able to work together, in partnership with the community, to make this happen. The arrangement is similar to what happened in the construction of Maple Field, when the sports groups worked with the Village and were so successful in their fundraising, that they were able to fulfill their financial commitment early.
Also at tonight's meeting, we approved a change to the school calendar for this year, 2010-11. As part of our budget cuts for this year, we eliminated paying teachers for extra time to conduct parent conferences outside of school hours. Instead, elementary schools will hold a half-day session on Election Day November 2, with teachers holding parent conferences in the afternoon. Additionally, all schools grade K-12 will be closed on November 3. On that day, grade K-5 teachers will conduct conferences, and grades 6-12 will do professional development. This will flow into the Teacher Convention Days, which are November 4 and 5.
The next Board of Ed meeting will be August 30. This will be our annual "Retreat," where we will set goals for the 2010-11 school year, and discuss our evaluation of our operations and effectiveness.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
BOE Meeting 9/15
The Board of Education is meeting tomorrow (Monday) night at 5:30 p.m. for what has been billed a "special public meeting." What does that mean? Actually, this meeting is the Board's annual "Retreat," the purpose of which is to discuss issues that pertain to how we operate as a Board and also to set the Board's goals for the 2008-2009 school year. Normally, a Retreat would take place over the summer, but we wanted to have our new superintendent in place before we scheduled anything.
I find it pretty funny that we call it a Retreat -- gone are the days when Board members would go off to an out-of-town location (the Hamptons?) and talk about Board operations in a fresh environment, away from the daily stuff that makes it hard to talk and think with any perspective. Not only do the Sunshine Laws require that we meet in public, but we certainly can't go anywhere that would cost money for travel, etc.
So we'll be Retreating to the 3rd floor of the Ed Center. We're not going to discuss any regular Board business. We're just going to work on our own efficiency and effectiveness. I'll keep you posted.
I find it pretty funny that we call it a Retreat -- gone are the days when Board members would go off to an out-of-town location (the Hamptons?) and talk about Board operations in a fresh environment, away from the daily stuff that makes it hard to talk and think with any perspective. Not only do the Sunshine Laws require that we meet in public, but we certainly can't go anywhere that would cost money for travel, etc.
So we'll be Retreating to the 3rd floor of the Ed Center. We're not going to discuss any regular Board business. We're just going to work on our own efficiency and effectiveness. I'll keep you posted.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
