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Buffalo board considers revamping agenda and using work sessions to prepare for action
Summary
At a July 8 executive affairs session, board members, guided by a Council of Great City Schools consultant, discussed making work sessions the primary venue for deliberation, formalizing an agenda timeline, and launching a multi-month policy review to reduce last-minute decisions.
Rodney Jordan, a consultant from the Council of Great City Schools, told Buffalo Board of Education members on July 8 that the board should treat board meetings as ‘‘meetings of the board with the superintendent in the public.’’ He urged using work sessions and a planning calendar so the board can deliberate items in advance and reserve business meetings for action.
Jordan said the board’s agenda should be the board’s agenda—developed collaboratively with the superintendent and administration but approved by the board—and recommended a monitoring calendar that maps when major items (budgets, codes of conduct, monitoring reports) will be reviewed over months, not hours. ‘‘Board meetings are meetings of the board with the superintendent in the public. They are not meetings of the board with the superintendent for the public,’’ Jordan said, framing the session’s purpose.
President Evans Brown described the current practice as a ‘‘blueprint’’ that typically includes personnel actions, contracts and resolutions and is shaped by cabinet submissions, leadership meetings and small-group sessions. Superintendent Dr. Mabinga said cabinet materials are usually submitted to BoardDocs and that a draft packet is targeted for posting the Wednesday before a business meeting, with small-group leadership sessions on the Monday prior (leadership at noon and small-group sessions often at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.).
Several board members said those small-group sessions exclude members with work conflicts and recommended scheduling flexibility. Board member Gomez Rodriguez, a freshman member, said she often prepares questions in advance and that public testimony—sometimes emotional—can still leave newer members feeling unprepared when voting the same week materials are posted.
The consultant and superintendent proposed using work sessions earlier in the calendar as preparation for action at business meetings, and suggested a ‘‘policy diet’’ to systematically review and update policies that have not been revisited in years. Dr. Mabinga and others noted BOCES and state guidance provide model policies districts can adapt; the board retains authority to tailor policy language for local context.
No formal motion or vote was recorded on structural changes; participants agreed to have Jordan produce a draft of suggested protocols, a recommended calendar for monitoring and suggested best practices for consent and discussion agendas. The consultant said he would return a written draft of norms for the board to consider and, ultimately, adopt.
What’s next: Jordan will synthesize notes and best practices into a draft set of norms and a proposed monitoring calendar for board review ahead of the August session.
