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Advisory committee for Human Growth & Development holds first meeting; board endorses consensus process
Summary
Board members received an update on the Human Growth & Development advisory committee’s Jan. 6 meeting at MATC; the ad hoc group established norms and will use an 80%-support 'gradient of agreement' (1–5 scale) to forward recommendations, with the board retaining final approval.
Chair Julian reported the advisory committee’s first meeting on Jan. 6 at Madison Area Technical College (MATC). He said Sam joined virtually as the board liaison and that Jenny and Ashley organized the meeting, which produced group norms and a plan to divide into elementary, middle and high-school subgroups.
Sam, the board liaison, told members he walked among small-table discussions and summarized common themes: participants repeatedly emphasized ensuring all voices are heard and preventing a few members from dominating conversation. "That's always a great place to start," Sam said, noting the meeting used a visible timer and a buzzer to keep time.
Jenny described the committee’s decision method as a "gradient of agreement"—a 1-to-5 scale where 5 means full agreement and a score of 1 indicates an inability to move forward. She explained that if roughly 80% of participants score above the lowest level, the group will move forward; a participant scoring a 1 must propose specific changes. The advisory group is ad hoc and the board retains final decision-making authority for any policy or curricular adoption.
Committee composition and next steps: the advisory committee includes parents, teachers (elementary, middle and high school), medical representatives at each level and two students. The board was told committee feedback will be folded into curriculum committee minutes and that the group is expected to provide recommendations so the board can consider them by May. The next advisory meeting dates were discussed and timing clarified for standing curriculum committee meetings (moving generally to Wednesdays).
