Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Board Governance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board frames goals around academics, advocacy and community listening sessions
Summary
Board members and staff summarized priorities from recent MABE training and proposed action steps to increase community engagement, advocacy with legislators and governance practices.
The Talbot County Board of Education used part of its March 17 work session to consolidate board-level goals identified during recent training and public retreats, focusing on academics, advocacy, community engagement and governance.
Molly Young, district staff, summarized input collected from board members and organized it into four "buckets": academics (attendance, achievement gaps, discipline, test scores), advocacy (work with legislators), community engagement (listening sessions) and internal connections/governance (board collaboration and retreats).
"What I did, I took what the collective board goals were, but then I looked at what each individual board member said on the paper," Molly Young said, presenting a yellow chart summarizing the themes.
Board members discussed community listening sessions and how to broaden participation beyond school-based venues. Members suggested holding sessions at libraries, fire stations, parks or other community spaces so nonparent community members might feel more welcome. Several members said attendance at current listening sessions has been low and recommended additional outreach and varied locations to increase turnout.
Advocacy actions included targeted meetings with county and state representatives. One board member suggested the board schedule individual meetings with legislators "to talk specifically to them." Members also discussed continuing to use a "state of the district" event as a vehicle for broader engagement.
Next steps: Staff will catalog suggested action items under the four buckets and return with a list the board can track. Board members said they expect ongoing discussion in future meetings and will route formal proposals through the appropriate committees as needed.
