School board plans to change meeting format
Time for comments from public would be reduced
By Virginia Terhune
vterhune@patuxent.com
Posted 8/06/08
County school board leaders want to change one of their two monthly business meetings, which includes speaking time for the general public, to a work session, which citizens could attend but not address.
The board needs a regular, uninterrupted block of time to consider the myriad issues before it, said board president JoAnn Murphy.
Critics, however, decry reducing the opportunities for public input from two meetings a month to one.
Murphy said the board is “hoping to gather some time so that we can look at things in depth — that’s hard to do if we have to get through 46 contracts.”
“We get bogged down in minuscule details, when we really need to be focusing out 10 years,” Murphy said about issues before the board, such as pending high school graduation tests, major capital projects and curriculum changes.
“We’re not going to say it’s the answer to everyone’s prayer. We’ll review it,” said Murphy, who researched the idea with board vice president Ed Parker. “We’re approaching this as a pilot” for the 2008-09 school year.
But Carmela Veit, a former PTA president and now a member of the school system’s diversity and achievement steering committee, criticized the move.
“I feel it’s a slippery slope,” she said. “The public should always be encouraged to participate and should not be limited."
The school board is set to vote on the format changes Tuesday, Aug. 12.
(The text of proposed changes to policies 8311 and 8315 is posted at www.bcps.org. under the board’s June 10 agenda, exhibits S and T.)
Some citizens hope the changes also might come up during the board’s annual discussion about goals on Saturday, Aug. 9, in Towson. Citizens may attend the meeting but are not invited to speak.
Other changes
Another proposed policy change would require that speakers limit their subjects to an “agenda item” or “educational topic,” instead of just a “topic,” during the public comment period at the end of regular meetings.
And a third change would restrict the number of advisory groups (which are given time to speak during the “stakeholder” section of the regular meeting) to those created by the board.
That would exclude the Baltimore County Education Coalition, an informal, grass-roots group that in recent months has ceded some of its speaking time to activist parents concerned about overcrowded schools in Towson, an unwanted addition to Loch Raven High School and a recently renovated school without air conditioning in Lutherville.
Earlier this year, activists spoke at board meetings, created Web sites and involved politicians and the media in a drive to get the school system and the board to address their concerns.
As a result, the board voted to build a new elementary school at the Ridge Ruxton school site in Towson and voted against an addition to Loch Raven High.
The lack of air conditioning in half the county’s schools is something that could be tackled in a work session, Murphy said.
Other avenues
The recent controversies were not the reason for the proposed format changes, Murphy said.
The intent behind the move to work sessions is to give the board time to dig into issues and make good decisions now, so that future boards are not stuck with unresolved problems, she said.
Holding special sessions on evenings or weekends was not an option because board members, who receive $100 a year for their time, already spend many hours reading reports and visiting schools, she said.
(The board has no staff of its own to help research and evaluate issues. In February, members voted to shift a position from the school system’s Research, Accountability and Assessment office so someone could serve as an adviser about potential appointments, statistics and trends in education. Superintendent Joe Hairston, however, recently told the board that money has not been allocated for that position.)
Regarding the loss of public speaking time, Murphy said the public can communicate with board members via phone calls, letters and e-mails, although e-mails do not typically go directly to them. The board’s administrative assistant reviews them and reports total messages by issue to the board.
Also, yearly public hearings on the proposed operating and capital budgets are held. In the past, they have not typically been well attended. Rodgers Forge parents, however, turned out in force for the March capital budget hearing.
And members of the public will still be able to comment on proposed policy changes during the board's regular business meeting, which they do now.
Advisory councils
The board’s five citizen advisory councils are another avenue for public comment.
Kent Smith, who chairs the Northeast Area Advisory Council, which has advocated for a new high school for years, said that with the range of issues before the board, “you’d want a session where you’re not dealing with bids and the business side.” Smith favors the idea of a work session.
To compensate for the loss of citizen speaking time, Smith also supports the idea of extending the time from three minutes to five minutes for advisory groups to address the board.
Another idea is to promote the advisory councils as instruments of the board to gather information and as conduits for the public to express ideas and opinions.
“They’re a vastly underused commodity by the board of education and the community,” Boyd Crouse, coordinator of the councils, said at a recent board meeting.
The board needs a regular, uninterrupted block of time to consider the myriad issues before it, said board president JoAnn Murphy.
Critics, however, decry reducing the opportunities for public input from two meetings a month to one.
Murphy said the board is “hoping to gather some time so that we can look at things in depth — that’s hard to do if we have to get through 46 contracts.”
“We get bogged down in minuscule details, when we really need to be focusing out 10 years,” Murphy said about issues before the board, such as pending high school graduation tests, major capital projects and curriculum changes.
“We’re not going to say it’s the answer to everyone’s prayer. We’ll review it,” said Murphy, who researched the idea with board vice president Ed Parker. “We’re approaching this as a pilot” for the 2008-09 school year.
But Carmela Veit, a former PTA president and now a member of the school system’s diversity and achievement steering committee, criticized the move.
“I feel it’s a slippery slope,” she said. “The public should always be encouraged to participate and should not be limited."
The school board is set to vote on the format changes Tuesday, Aug. 12.
(The text of proposed changes to policies 8311 and 8315 is posted at www.bcps.org. under the board’s June 10 agenda, exhibits S and T.)
Some citizens hope the changes also might come up during the board’s annual discussion about goals on Saturday, Aug. 9, in Towson. Citizens may attend the meeting but are not invited to speak.
Other changes
Another proposed policy change would require that speakers limit their subjects to an “agenda item” or “educational topic,” instead of just a “topic,” during the public comment period at the end of regular meetings.
And a third change would restrict the number of advisory groups (which are given time to speak during the “stakeholder” section of the regular meeting) to those created by the board.
That would exclude the Baltimore County Education Coalition, an informal, grass-roots group that in recent months has ceded some of its speaking time to activist parents concerned about overcrowded schools in Towson, an unwanted addition to Loch Raven High School and a recently renovated school without air conditioning in Lutherville.
Earlier this year, activists spoke at board meetings, created Web sites and involved politicians and the media in a drive to get the school system and the board to address their concerns.
As a result, the board voted to build a new elementary school at the Ridge Ruxton school site in Towson and voted against an addition to Loch Raven High.
The lack of air conditioning in half the county’s schools is something that could be tackled in a work session, Murphy said.
Other avenues
The recent controversies were not the reason for the proposed format changes, Murphy said.
The intent behind the move to work sessions is to give the board time to dig into issues and make good decisions now, so that future boards are not stuck with unresolved problems, she said.
Holding special sessions on evenings or weekends was not an option because board members, who receive $100 a year for their time, already spend many hours reading reports and visiting schools, she said.
(The board has no staff of its own to help research and evaluate issues. In February, members voted to shift a position from the school system’s Research, Accountability and Assessment office so someone could serve as an adviser about potential appointments, statistics and trends in education. Superintendent Joe Hairston, however, recently told the board that money has not been allocated for that position.)
Regarding the loss of public speaking time, Murphy said the public can communicate with board members via phone calls, letters and e-mails, although e-mails do not typically go directly to them. The board’s administrative assistant reviews them and reports total messages by issue to the board.
Also, yearly public hearings on the proposed operating and capital budgets are held. In the past, they have not typically been well attended. Rodgers Forge parents, however, turned out in force for the March capital budget hearing.
And members of the public will still be able to comment on proposed policy changes during the board's regular business meeting, which they do now.
Advisory councils
The board’s five citizen advisory councils are another avenue for public comment.
Kent Smith, who chairs the Northeast Area Advisory Council, which has advocated for a new high school for years, said that with the range of issues before the board, “you’d want a session where you’re not dealing with bids and the business side.” Smith favors the idea of a work session.
To compensate for the loss of citizen speaking time, Smith also supports the idea of extending the time from three minutes to five minutes for advisory groups to address the board.
Another idea is to promote the advisory councils as instruments of the board to gather information and as conduits for the public to express ideas and opinions.
“They’re a vastly underused commodity by the board of education and the community,” Boyd Crouse, coordinator of the councils, said at a recent board meeting.
user comments (1)
user onewhocares says...
The school board is at it again. They don't really want to hear from the public. This has been quite clear for a few years now as they slowly began to dimish comments from the public little by little each year. Soon the public won't have any opportunity to address the school board. I don't understand why these meetings seem to be so lengthy. It is well known that all school boards member will vote the way Joe Hairston wants them to vote. So why not cut all the discussion and just to get the vote. In the end, we know the teachers and students rarely win.
Posted 7:57 PM, 08.04.08
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