Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Goal Monitoring topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
OKCPS board training emphasizes shifting half of meeting time to goal monitoring
Summary
During a coach-led training, Oklahoma City Public Schools trustees discussed a time-use evaluation and the district's monitoring calendar, with coaches urging the board to dedicate roughly 50% of its meeting minutes to monitoring progress on adopted goals. The board noted its first formal monitoring session is scheduled for Oct. 6.
Oklahoma City Public Schools trustees met in a training session with external coaches to review how the board spends its time and to plan a new monitoring cadence that emphasizes student outcomes.
Coach AJ led the session, asking, "Why does the board's use of time matter?" and urging trustees to prioritize goal setting and monitoring over other routine agenda items. "Of all the different items on this time use evaluation, the only two that are actually highlighted are the ones around goal setting and goal monitoring," AJ said.
Board members and coaches discussed how to identify true goal monitoring. Jessica Cifuentes, board member, said, "Time is one of our biggest resources. And if we are going to be measuring how much time is spent actually talking about student outcomes on the board, then we need to realize how much time do we have together and how we can most effectively use that time." Coaches explained that monitoring reports must tie to an adopted goal and its interim (progress-monitoring) metrics, be submitted according to the board's monitoring calendar, include data, an interpretation from the superintendent, and an evidence-based plan for next steps.
The group clarified that goal monitoring is not a "gotcha" exercise but a recurring accountability conversation: the board should ask (1) are we at target; (2) are we making progress; and (3) does the superintendent have sufficiently aggressive plans to get back on track. The coaches advised boards to refuse to accept a monitoring report that lacks required elements, return it to staff for completion, and, if deficiencies persist, reflect that in the superintendent's annual evaluation.
Trustees noted an operational step: the district's first monitoring session will occur Oct. 6, and coaches encouraged trustees to treat the time-use evaluation as a monthly cumulative account of minutes across all board and committee meetings. Board clerk Craig Cates explained a routine detail that supports voting efficiency: "When I call the roll... I'm actually selecting the board members and board docs for your voting so that when we get around to the first vote and all the votes throughout the agenda, you get the pop up box that gives you that opportunity to vote." The coaches said boards commonly spend much of their time on voting and "other" activities and must compress those to free minutes for monitoring.
The session closed with coaches promising draft language and materials (including a spreadsheet on public-comment practices) to help the board implement monthly time-use tracking and to prepare higher-quality monitoring reports.
No formal board action was taken during the training; trustees will apply the guidance to future regular meetings and the Oct. 6 monitoring session.
