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Communications committee approves minutes, debates running virtual budget Q&A without administration
Summary
The AMD Board of Education Communications Committee approved its March minutes and spent much of the meeting planning virtual budget Q&A logistics and outreach for the upcoming referendum, debating whether board members should field detailed budget questions without administrative staff present.
The AMD Board of Education Communications Committee approved minutes from its March 11 meeting and then turned to planning outreach for the district’s upcoming budget referendum.
The committee voted to approve the prior meeting’s minutes after Dana moved the motion; the roll-call-style voice vote recorded Carol, Donna and Dana as voting “yes,” carrying the motion.
The conversation then focused on how to run virtual budget question-and-answer sessions. Committee members discussed technical logistics — admitting participants from a waiting room at the start time, keeping attendees on mute until called, using the raise-hand feature and having hosts unmute callers for questions and re-mute them afterward. The chair emphasized that the sessions should be short and focused in order to set expectations for the public.
Jen, who explained recent restrictions on advocacy, told the committee that district staff and administration can no longer advocate for the budget; board members may speak about the budget. That limitation prompted debate over whether board members alone should host the virtual sessions, with several members saying they were uncomfortable answering operational or line-item financial questions without administration present.
Board member Dana said she worried that pulling out of scheduled sessions would look bad, and urged that the committee proceed while setting clear expectations: ‘‘If we can’t answer a question, we should say we will get an answer and follow up,’’ she said.
Members agreed to prepare a packet of starter questions, scripted opening remarks and a prioritized set of facts and talking points for the 30-minute sessions so board members could handle high-level questions and refer detailed inquiries back to administration. Committee members also agreed to circulate existing Q&A documents and a one- or two-page flyer to help presenters stay on message.
Next steps include distributing the compiled resources to participating board members and proceeding with outreach to PTSOs and other community lists ahead of the scheduled sessions.
