RSU 57 HR committee seeks clearer definition of "media," boosts training and communications steps

The RSU 57 HR committee spent the bulk of its meeting reviewing the school-board evaluation results and discussing how the district defines and handles "media" and public communications, recommending clearer language, more training and a small set of procedural follow-ups.

A committee member who reviewed the evaluation said the survey produced 13 responses, including four unscored "not sure" replies, two top ratings, six middle ratings and one low rating, and that media engagement was among the lowest-scored areas. "So here's the breakdown of the 13 responses that I got," the committee member said, summarizing the evaluation data for colleagues.

District staff described the current approach to outreach: building-level newsletters, a district community newsletter managed by the superintendent's office, Facebook posts and the Thrillshare platform to cross-post announcements and send direct email. "Our primary outreach with the community happens through the Thrillshare platform," the staff member said. "We use our Facebook pages for that." The staff member also warned the committee that the district does not have a dedicated public-relations department and urged solutions that leverage existing tools rather than creating a new department.

Members debated whether the evaluation's use of the term "media" referred to news media, school or community newsletters, social media or the broader Internet. One member urged the group to keep the scope narrow for the evaluation and focus on whether the board "promotes constructive relations with the media," noting that existing board policy delegates systemwide news releases to the superintendent and school-level communications to principals.

To reduce confusion and improve consistency in future evaluations, committee members recommended adding a short glossary or truncated definitions to the school-board self-evaluation that would clarify terms such as "media" and "boardsmanship." "I think the glossary is a really good idea because it's such a—people get in their head and then you're questioning anything," one member said. Several members suggested a summer workshop or periodic trainings and asked staff to compile a monthly list of upcoming MSBA/MSMA training opportunities to encourage participation.

The committee also discussed practical support for newer board members, including a voluntary mentoring or "buddy" system and a digest of routine events (graduations, budget-review sessions, building tours) to encourage member attendance. Members noted some new members may miss association emails and suggested leadership pair newcomers with experienced members for at least their first year.

On operational items, members raised the volunteer-background-check process and whether the annual volunteer verification could be pushed to the start of the school year with an online option where legally permitted. Staff said signature and legal requirements would need further review before any change.

The committee agreed to forward suggested evaluation clarifications and the proposed glossary to the policy committee for draft language and scheduling. Staff said they would contact the policy staff to place the item on the policy committee's radar.

Votes at a glance: - Motion to approve minutes from Dec. 17, 2026: motion made and seconded; Chair announced the motion passes (no roll-call tally recorded). (Motion referenced in the meeting.) - Motion to approve January minutes: motion made and seconded; one member stated they would abstain because they were not present for the meeting being approved; Chair announced the motion passes (no roll-call tally recorded). (Motion referenced in the meeting.) - Motion to enter executive session pursuant to 1 MRSA §405(6)(F): motion made by the Chair, seconded by a committee member; Chair stated no action will be taken at the end of the executive session and the meeting would end rather than reconvene in public. (Motion referenced in the meeting.)

Next steps: committee members asked staff to pull the school-board self-evaluation policy for revision, draft a short glossary of terms for the evaluation, compile forthcoming training opportunities, and consider informal mentorship pairings for new board members. The committee then moved into executive session to discuss a confidential matter.

Attributions in this report use role labels that match speakers in the committee record; direct quotes are taken from the committee discussion.