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Board member voices split on shifting substance to work sessions; pilot proposed
Summary
Supporters argued work sessions produce deeper discussion and recommended a one‑year pilot of the new schedule; opponents warned fewer formal meeting dates could reduce opportunities for official action and votes.
Supporters of the new calendar model said work sessions foster deeper discussion with presenters and allow the board to explore issues without the formal constraints of a board meeting. "A lot of the learning that we need to do from content experts that come in, presentations by other people, that typically happens in a work session," one board member said in favor of protecting more work-session time.
Opponents countered that formal board meetings are where action can be taken and cautioned against reducing the number of board meetings. A board member noted past recommendations and votes that resulted in 21 meetings in prior years and argued reducing to 19 or fewer "means there's less opportunity for the board to take action on items that it needs to take action on." The exchange left the board with no immediate decision, and proponents recommended piloting the proposal for one year and reverting if it proved ineffective.
Administration will return two or three mock calendar options for a January meeting so the board can consider a pilot and a timeline for evaluation. If adopted, the pilot would be tested for one year with an option to return to the prior calendar the following year.
