In the Race
Now, here, you see, it takes all the blogging I can do to keep in the same place.
If I want to get somewhere else, I must blog twice as fast as that!
You see, I'm in
the Red Queen's Race...
Franklin School Board Meeting 9/24/08 #1
By Janet Evans
Sunday, Sep 28 2008, 08:15 AM
I attended the Franklin School Board meeting on September 24th. I’ll be reporting on this meeting in several blogs because I want to tell you about an Assessment Report, and I want to do a podcast on that and haven’t put that together yet. It’s going to be a very long podcast, but I’ve mentioned the program, MAP, in the past, and I think it might be time for it to be explained since it is going to be an important part of the District.
In this post I want to let you know, that the Board adopted a new set of Goals. In essence, it appears they reviewed the old goals and revamped them, breaking them down into points. What I think would have been beneficial would have been taking the old goals, and pointing out which ones have actually been met. Because they have removed the old Goals from the website and changed the format, we have no way of knowing what they have accomplished.
I do have one goal that I did save, that we can compare; it's at the bottom of the post.
Here are the new Goals. I believe there will be some comment about some of them. While you read them over, I think I'll take a little "retreat."
Franklin Public School Goals
The Board of Education for the Franklin Public Schools has established the following goals for the district. The board recognizes that none of these goals will be completely achieved in the short term, but it intends to hold itself and the district’s administrative team accountable for significant progress in all of these areas.
Student Achievement
We will increase academic achievement for all students while recognizing the diverse needs of our students.In order to accomplish this goal, we will:
- Support effective curriculum and professional development.
- Employ MAPS testing in the district.
- Encourage the appropriate use of technology in our curriculum.
- Provide assistance to struggling students.
- Understand how we measure the success of our programs.
- Determine if our graduates are prepared for school/careers beyond high school.
- Prepare students for the jobs of the future.
- Encourage creativity.
- Consider the whole child in our curriculum.
- Employ MAPS testing in the district.
- Encourage the appropriate use of technology in our curriculum.
- Provide assistance to struggling students.
- Understand how we measure the success of our programs.
- Determine if our graduates are prepared for school/careers beyond high school.
- Prepare students for the jobs of the future.
- Encourage creativity.
- Consider the whole child in our curriculum.
Finance
We will establish and communicate an accountability system to ensure that all district resources are efficiently and productively used to support student achievement.In order to accomplish this goal, we will:
- Understand historical patterns in school funding and expenditures.
- Engage in planning to anticipate future financial needs and expenditures as best as possible.
- Provide useful and clear budget information to stakeholders.
- Always look for efficiency in our operations.
- Ensure effective business practices.
Communications
We will provide timely and continuous communication between the school district, parents and community organizations using current technologies, media outlets and printed correspondence.
In order to accomplish this goal, we will:
- Find new ways to communicate with all sectors of our community (parents and residents without children in the district).
- Find ways in which we can engage the community in the activities and planning in our district.
- Consider emerging ways in which we communicate with families (ie emergency notification system).
- Evaluate how parents use tools provided by the district (i.e. power school).
- Foster a welcoming environment in all our schools.
Board Development
We will commit to learning and understanding the roles and responsibilities of a board member in order to ensure effectiveness and efficiency of board operations that contribute directly to student achievement.
In order to accomplish this goal, we will:
- Investigate and implement effective boardsmanship techniques.
- Commit to learning about issues and ideas.
- Establish a more effective program for board orientation.
- Establish a board retreat.
Old Goal – Replaced by Finance
Revisit Budget Process
Franklin residents expect that the school district will provide a quality education for all of its students. They also expect that the board and the district will be good stewards of the tax dollar. Many residents are concerned about the rising tax rate and expect the district to address their concerns. The board wants to take a new approach towards budgeting. It expects the administration to explore strategic abandonment of programs and budgeted items that are no longer needed. The district must look for cost savings in all areas, but place student achievement as the number one priority for new expenditures. The board wants to have more discussions of the budget and seek community input on what non-mandated elements of the budget it will support. Budget documents must be user-friendly and presentations must be understandable to the taxpayer.
