At their discussion meeting yesterday afternoon the Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education considered changing board meeting times to be more accessible for parents.
If you don't have the pleasure of attending board meetings, you should know that the board currently meets at 4 pm the 2nd and last Tuesday of every month. Community comments are heard after the cameras are turned off, at the end of the meeting. Discussion meetings are scheduled "as needed," in a tiny room, usually earlier in the afternoon. As the community organizer for a union of school employees, I attend school board meetings regularly, both alone and with district employees, who often also have kids in the schools. >From what I can tell, what was missing from the discussion yesterday is what is missing from most board meetings: a transparent and predictable process. From timekeeping (there is none, and Chair Joe Erickson suggested yesterday that it was not his responsibility) to opportunities for dialogue, to meeting times, little about school board meetings is inviting to the people who live, work, and educate their children in the district. Since few people were at the meeting yesterday, I'd like to share the suggestions that came up: * Bill English of the Minneapolis Council of Black Churches, who Erickson invited to speak, suggested the board dialogue with different communities to get a sense of appropriate meetings times and other engagement issues * Allow 5, rather than 3, minutes per community comment * Consider changing the meeting places as well as time * Expand the methods of publicizing the board meetings beyond the internet * Director Judy Farmer informed the board that holding 3 meetings per year at alternate locations would cost approximately $500 per meeting * Erickson suggested a town hall style board meeting in addition to the current meetings * Erickson suggested making digitized audio of school board meetings available online * Peggy Flanagan suggested providing childcare for board members and attendees (for their children, that is) * The board discussed rotating start times, but concluded that would cause more confusion Since, there wasn't an opportunity for input last night and I am not aware of the future of this discussion, I'll add a few ideas, and hope others will do the same here or by calling their school board members. * Hear community delegations at a set time (currently they are no later than 6:30, but often and unpredictably earlier) * Get someone to take minutes, post them online and make them available at meetings (On the website, only one set of minutes is available since October of 2004 and I have heard board members question whether a resolution was passed at a given meeting, because they had no record.) * Assign someone to keep time in discussion meetings and assign enough time to actually discuss the topics scheduled, including the inevitable pre-discussion meeting "closed session" that eats up half of the agenda. Being unclear about the time your meeting will start and end doesn't create an atmosphere conducive to community input and participation. * Keep the cameras on during the community comment section. I understand there is history here, but people watching at home ought to be able to get informed about community concerns. * The board communicates meeting times and topics primarily through it's website, which already alienates a good percentage of the district. Digitized broadcasts are accessible to even fewer people. What about radio broadcasts? * Finally, I'm sure it's just a faux pas, but, on the district's website, the link to "Community Engagement Process" leads to this: "Inactive Section; This section (or one of this section's ancestors) has been disabled by an administrator." Just for appearances sake, somebody really oughta fix that. Sarah Greenfield 9th ward/ MPS Alum/ SEIU Local 284 Community Organizer REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
