Category Archives: Echo Chamber

McKell Moment: Education Task Force- SB 169 (Audio)

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In the March 19, 2013 School Board meeting the Superintendent broaches the subject of the legislative task force.  In that meeting he gives the task force a negative spin: “…Senate Bill 169, Education Task Force, I’m worried about that one, this is the one where essentially they are saying so what if the governor has an education excellence in education commission for the last three years, so what if senators and representatives have been a … Continue reading →

Race to the Top Grant: Our Students Lost out in 2012 –Why?

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061813RTTBM   Audio of School Board Meeting In our June 18, 2013 School Board meeting, department heads were present to share the district’s 2012-13 Accomplishments. One item in particular caught my attention was RACE TO THE TOP grant. About 20 minutes into the meeting I asked why it was listed as an accomplishment if we were not awarded the grant. The attached audio is the portion of the meeting where Christine Marriott with the Assessment Department … Continue reading →

The Case of the Disappearing Agenda Item (Audio)

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  In the January 22, 2013, School Board meeting the Board President had the Board vote on an issue that was not on the original published agenda. (See snap shot above:yellow highlight). It appears, in order to rectify the fact that the board voted on a non-agenda item, they just added it to the agenda after the meeting was done. It remained that way for about four months. The attached Audio is of the May … Continue reading →

School Board Authority: Abdicated (Audio)

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Current School Board policy and state law give authority to the Board of Education to “employ by contract and set salary schedules for the superintendent, business administrator, principals, teachers, and other employees of the district.” Board Policy B1 In our last school board meeting of July 9, 2013, at Snowbird ski resort, I questioned why we were not following that policy. In the audio you will hear the superintendent state that the process has not … Continue reading →

Board President: Where Are We Empowered to Make Changes?

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In our July 9, 2013, School Board retreat up at Snowbird, I brought up the issue of the OCR complaint in the midst of audible sighs from a fellow board members Laurel Young and Heather Bennett. I have already documented the Superintendent’s reaction in a previous blog posting . In this blog posting, I would like to highlight the Board President’s inaction:   2013-07-09-Board-MeetingOCR1      04/09/13 School Board Meeting (audio) Board member Tiffany Sandberg who was elected with … Continue reading →