Roxbury Village School Committee adopts group agreements and decision rules at facilitated retreat

A facilitated retreat of the Roxbury Village School Committee on June 24 produced a set of group agreements intended to make meetings more efficient and collaborative. Andrea Van Liew of Sugar Moon Ceremonies & Consulting led the session, which the committee said was aimed at clarifying processes tied to the Selectboard's charge and improving how members make decisions.

The committee adopted specific ground rules including using a “parking lot” to track future issues, sticking to identified timeframes, limiting side conversations, practicing active listening with reframing, and routinely revisiting group agreements and the Selectboard charge. Members agreed to add process check-ins at the start and end of meetings and to use gradients of agreement — a structured check-in that lets participants express degrees of support — before formal decisions.

Ben Doyle of the Preservation Trust of Vermont presented examples and technical assistance options for repurposing town school buildings. “This type of project requires collaborative leadership and a lot of optimism,” Doyle said, offering to connect the committee to skilled practitioners and to share completed workplans and budgets from similar projects.

Committee members said the new rules are intended to help meetings end on time and reduce repetition; they also discussed posting a blueprint diagram at a future community gathering to gather broader input through dot voting.

The committee plans to revisit these agreements regularly and to use them as the framework for upcoming planning tasks and community engagement.