Saturday, I attended the best SBUSD meeting I have witnessed in my 28 years of following local school board issues.
The facilitator, Dr. Suzette Lovely, presented a creative and thought-provoking workshop on “Governance.” Two slides set the tone for the day: (1) Definition of the Greek root of the word governance (“to steer”); and (2) A ship, with steering wheel (board) and oars (administration).
Dr. Lovely led four hours of exercises and questions, structured dialog, and self-examination to, simply put, help the board in steering,and the Superintendent and administration in rowing, the ship. What resulted was refreshingly open and honest dialog between board and administration in understanding their distinct roles and in identifying “Situations that Need Attention.”
A key frustration expressed by board members was their desire to be able to come to board meetings better informed and prepared to deliberate. Two constructive “next steps” discussed were: (1) Organize perhaps four special meetings (community meetings) annually which focus on a single subject. (2) Provide in-depth staff reports on these specific topics.
I would like to thank SBUSD Superintendent Maldonado for choosing Dr. Lovely to lead this remarkable meeting.
