District calls off committees, sets up new working calendar
Apr. 12—After more than a year of heated debate over whether and how community-input committees will continue in local public education, a final answer has arisen — they're gone.
The St. Joseph School District committed to the change and implemented it by canceling a meeting on facilities planning that had been set for April 8.
Instead, starting at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, April 15, a Board of Education work session will be held. At least one work session will occur every month going forward. Topics related to facilities, academics, finance and the like will all be folded into work sessions that typically occur two weeks before the regular monthly board meeting, which this month is set for April 29.
"It allows for equitable participation," Superintendent Gabe Edgar said. "It allows for things to streamline a little bit more. It takes emotions out of it ... You can get caught on one topic and you have only an hour within the structure of these meetings. Sometimes, you can spend 55 minutes talking about the exact same thing."
A significant impact of this will be the termination of free-for-all public input in favor of formal rules of order. Only elected board members and those they invite to speak will be allowed to talk while meetings are in session.
For both work sessions and regular meetings, people from the general public will be encouraged to inform Board Secretary Donna Baker if they wish to offer comments. Each speaker will then be allowed up to three minutes to do so during a designated time.
Board members alone will be able to decide if other public commentary times will be arranged. Regardless, people will be able to speak to board members after a meeting has ended or by phone or email at another time. Contact information is found on the board's official website at sjsd.k12.mo.us/our-district/board-of-education.
Sean Connors, a longtime contributor to school committee meetings who ran for the board this spring, said productivity has been lacking during past discussions.
"Lots of good information, but it was a 'too many cooks in the kitchen' type environment," Connors said. "In order for this to work, the board members are going to have to set the agenda and have materials ready for the meeting. It was frustrating participating in these meetings with no clear decisions being made to bring back to the board."
How this all plays out will be determined by a board with some new perspectives. Before the April 15 work session gets underway, LaTonya Williams will take the oath for her second three-year term of office, alongside newcomers Ronda Chesney and Mike Moore. The three won seats in the election on April 2. Moore and Chesney will replace Kenneth Reeder and David Foster.
Marcus Clem can be reached at marcus.clem@newspressnow.com. Follow him on Twitter: @NPNowClem
