Re: [Winona] Bianchi

[Dick Gaffron]

Title: Bianchi

Good questions. Being a charter and continuing member of the Rollingstone Community School site based team, I can offer some ideas and thoughts about how it has functioned.  During the several years the team has been operating, we have had several mixes of members come and go from the team.  Generally it has been mostly staff involved in the team with a parent now and then.  The team here was consistant with the administrator, teachers, pera representation, a parent or two, clerical staff, and community members( usually 1 or 2).  It is difficult to get parents and community involved due to meeting times.  We meet at 7:30 AM the 3rd Wednesday of each month and generally have a good turn out. We have tried afternoon times and the turn out wasn't as good and evenings didn't seem to work well either.         Agenda and minutes are sent out before each meeting and members can add to them if needed.  We have had support from St, Mary's University, which has been very valuable also.  While we discuss many items, we as community members, aren't always sure if our ideas get any further.  Our administrator did a great job of communicating our needs, but the answers weren't always clear.  We have had basic issues such as maintanance and school usage well represented, but budget issues were always as bit unclear.  The team felt we should be able to examine the budget for the building more closley and have better input into the workings of it.  It can be confusing to the lay person, when you only get codes with no explanation or get only the expenditure budget and not the revenue side.  School financing can be confusing at best and I feel that site base teams would have some great ideas on how to work with the budget. Perhaps having the Business Office attend a meeting could be helpful.       The Rollingstone Site Base team has worked very well and had excellent discussion about the multi-age education ideas, year-round school, transportation issues and other great ideas for students and staff.  The only real challenge is to attract more parent and community involvment.  It can be difficult to chair these meetings and not let them become just another staff meeting.  I think our team has done very well in that respect.  I hope with a new administrator this year we can continue to be a positive influence.  Dick Gaffron                  ----- Original Message ----- From: Karen J. Fawcett To: Winona Online Democracy Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2003 6:09 AM Subject: Re: [Winona] Bianchi For many of us in the community who are not involved in the schools, it would be helpful to know more about the site based system. When did it begin? Are all teams based on the same protocol? How are members chosen? What decisions can the teams make?  How do the teams communicate their decisions to the superintendent and the school board? And, most importantly, have they increased parent and staff involvement in the educational process? When I read about charter schools being started by parents, I usually read comments about the opportunity for parents to be closely involved in their children's education. If that need exists in the public schools, are site based teams the solution?    Karen Fawcett ----- Original Message ----- From: Randy Schenkat To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2003 5:49 PM Subject: [Winona] Bianchi Can we talk about site teams in schools and other work settings??  Steve Kranz said as a Bianchi panelist; "The one that, I think, struck a chord with me most was the reminder that the success of learning in a school depends, more than anything else, on the teachers -- and that the care and nurturing of an environment that supports them is one of the single most important things a school system can do." Eric Bartleson said, "But we can control how we treat and honor our professionals."(both Steve and Eric's full statements are easily retrived at  www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org ) . Scott Lowery wonders,"how about revitalizing the site based management system?" He goes on and says,  "Ideally, this is a shared decision-making structure that leads to the kind of community feeling and innovation-friendly autonomy which Bianchi apparently advocates. However, our system does not have a very strong requirement for power-sharing built into its site teams. I think that Board members and district administrators may sometimes forget that it can be risky for staff to participate fully in site teams when the potential for conflict with a supervisor exists." What are  On Line Democracy members experiences with site based management in schools or in your work places?  Do you have any sense of what other teachers, parents or community members think?   Are functioning site based teams a way to honor our professionals and and support teachers?   Do teachers want  site based teams?   -- Randy Schenkat   1358 Skyline Dr. Winona, Mn 55987     507-452-7168