Franklin School Board Retreat: Reading between the Lines
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 at 1:03 PM 
Not having attended the Saturday, August 6, 2011, Franklin School Board Meeting/Retreat I decided to read the minutes of the meeting and wanted to share my following observations with readers.
Item 2 indicated that School Superintendent Steve Patz conducted a so-called “ice-breaker” activity involving board members and those administration employees in attendance. No further details were provided concerning this activity.
It appears to me that the retreat was well-intended and sought to improve the effectiveness of the Board by incorporating four key priorities which were identified as conceptual goals for the Board for 2011-12. These are the four priorities according to the minutes.
- Define and Implement Products and Processes.
- Develop Board Leadership and governance skills
- Superintendent /Board of Education partnership and role clarification
- Positive image of Board
With respect to long-range planning, Superintendent Patz recommended to the Board (which it seems to have accepted), that this item be tabled.
The Board was informed by Patz that there will be Architects presenting at the September 7 Board meeting and that the foundation for future planning is tied to the responses from the community survey.
Architects presenting at the September 7 Board meeting? Here we go again!
Reading Between The Lines
- Superintendent Patz indicates that Architects are presenting at the September 7 Board meeting. What exactly has the School Board authorized these architects to design?
- This Board has been together for a number of years, and interact regularly at Board meetings, with the exception of Nielson who is the newest Board member, so what’s with the “ice-breaker activity?” By definition an “ice-breaker” is: an opening remark, action, etc., designed to ease tension or relieve formality.
- It seemed unusual to me that the subject book of the book study was entitled Five Habits of High Impact School Boards, yet the Board choose to incorporate only four key priorities which it identified as conceptual goals for the Board for 2011-12. It can't become a habit unless it's a practiced priority, can it?
- We're also courious about priority number 4 (above); does the Board believe it has a negative image?
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