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Forest Grove board reframes role around community engagement, sets timeline to finalize purpose statement
Summary
Board members discussed a new purpose statement that would prioritize community engagement and advocacy while aligning board activity to district strategic goals; board agreed to refine language and consider adoption at the next meeting.
Forest Grove School District Board of Directors members spent the bulk of their meeting discussing a new board purpose statement and how to measure engagement with students, families and local elected officials.
The proposed statement frames the board's role as creating conditions and providing oversight for the district's strategic plan, monitoring academic growth, aligning the budget to priorities, ensuring fiscal accountability and supporting the superintendent's goals. "We want the school board to support the goals of the district," Chair Kocchi said, urging a focus on relationship-building rather than separate board-led goals.
The discussion centered on two commitments at the bottom of the draft: that the board will advocate on behalf of Forest Grove students and families at local, state and national levels, and that it will "listen intently and engage with the community to support the strategic plan and improve the experiences of students and families." Board members recommended switching the order to emphasize community engagement first.
Dr. West, the superintendent, said the district does not yet have a measurement system tied to the draft statement and recommended the board consider a mix of quantitative and qualitative measures rather than a single survey. "Those measures can be quantitative like a survey, but it could also be qualitative," Dr. West said, suggesting the board identify specific checkpoints during the school year to review progress.
Student representative Maya Andrade told the board that students want to see board members "stand with us" and be visible and approachable in the community and at school events. "Seeing you in the community and how you get involved shows where you are as a person as well as a school board member," Andrade said.
Directors suggested a range of tactics to build relationships, including tables at school back-to-school nights, presence at community events such as farmers markets, organized visits to classrooms or student-led gatherings, and an intentional plan for meetings with legislators so visits include clear aims rather than informal tours.
Next steps agreed to by the board: staff will synthesize the feedback from the meeting into a revised draft, which the board may adopt at the September 23 board meeting if members wish. The board chair and superintendent said the timeline is flexible if more time for discussion is requested.
