\u201cThe (Salt Lake District) superintendent and the board of\u00a0education<\/a>\u00a0fully support\u00a0shared governance<\/a>,\u201d stated\u00a0James Olsen<\/a>\u00a0last Tuesday, the District\u2019s Communications Officer, in response to allegations that the District has \u201ceradicated\u201d the voices of the teachers in the District. He said that, \u201cShared governance is a valued asset in this district because it provides all stakeholders a voice in the education process, and it provides a structure for making difficult decisions.\u201d Nevertheless, Will Carlson, a Salt Lake\u00a0School Board<\/a>\u00a0challenger in this year\u2019s upcoming elections responded last week charging that, \u201cThe schedule (for high school) voting sham\u00a0(reported\u00a0earlier)\u00a0shows shared governance is being dismantled. The vehicle for collaborative leadership is becoming a lawn ornament\u2026 Parents, students, teachers, and community members are all invested in our schools. It’s time to put them back in the driver’s seat and restore shared governance.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Olsen, suggested that it was important to understand what \u201cshared goverance\u201d in the District really means, \u201cEach group involved in shared governance has a defined role in how those decisions come about. Some responsibilities are directly assigned to the board of education and district administration while others fall to schools and parents.\u201d He used the recent discussions regarding high school schedules as an excellent example as how shared governance works. Mr. Olsen goes on to say that, \u201cIn the Written Agreement, which was developed based on the principles of shared governance, it states the board of education has the responsibility to determine school schedules. At the high school level, this could include semester schedules, block schedules, modified block schedules, etc. The responsibility for scheduling the school day falls to the school improvement council, made up of teachers and administrators, with input from the school community council, which is comprised of teachers, parents, and school administrators. These scheduling decisions are then subject to approval from the superintendent. Working together, the board, the district administration, the schools, and parents are able to determine a schedule that meets the needs of students.\u201d Rosemary Emery, another Salt Lake School Board challenger and a 26-year veteran teacher who is retiring this year from the Salt Lake School District, insists that the high schedule was prepared for School Board approval by\u00a0the District without sufficient study or input from teachers and parents and, personally, believes that the block schedule rather than a tri-semester schedule\u00a0is the worst schedule she’s\u00a0taught under as a teacher.<\/p>\n As a personal commentary and a former Salt Lake School Board member under Mr. Donald M. Thomas who developed shared governance in the late 70s and later under superintendents John Bennion and Darlene Robles, this author always fought strenuously for shared governance to ensure that those closest to the students \u2013 the students themselves, the teachers, and parents had as much equal participation as possible in\u00a0policy<\/a>\u00a0decisions as the school board. It has never been easy to balance the various stakeholders\u2019 interest as the time involved, various personalities and power struggles influenced how decisions were made in the school district. Nevertheless the singular most powerful influence on how policy is formulated comes from the school superintendent (appointed by the school board) and the president of the school board. Sometimes it comes down a very personal belief and one\u2019s professional experience as to how shared governance is to be interpreted and administered.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Salt Lake City School District has a long history of supporting and sustaining the principles of open dialog and shared governance,\u201d insists Mr. Olsen. He stated that, \u201cThe district administration is continuing that tradition. Shared governance training is held regularly throughout the year. The training has been conducted at every district office and at every school. New employees also take part in this training to ensure that shared governance maintains its vital role.\u201d\u00a0 Yet whether or not the balance of power has tilted too severely towards the past traditional, hierarchical top-down management system\u00a0can only be determined by how the teachers and parents and students view the current School District actions that affect them and how much they feel their opinions and voices are heard.<\/p>\n Link to Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" EXAMINER EDUCATION & SCHOOLS APRIL 29, 2010 BY:\u00a0TAB UNO \u201cThe (Salt Lake District) superintendent and the board of\u00a0education\u00a0fully support\u00a0shared governance,\u201d stated\u00a0James Olsen\u00a0last Tuesday, the District\u2019s Communications Officer, in response to allegations that the District has \u201ceradicated\u201d the voices of the teachers in the District. He said that, \u201cShared governance is a valued asset in this district because it provides all stakeholders a voice in the education process, and it provides a structure for making difficult … Continue reading