WINDHAM CENTRAL SUPERVISORY UNION “WCSU will provide member districts with the leadership and resources to ensure a strong education system for all students.” GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE MEETING WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2009 6:30 – 8:30 P.M. NEWFANE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Minutes Present:  Wendy Houlihan, Emily Long, Frank Rucker, Gussie Bartlett, Steven John, Kim Friedman, Rosemary FitzSimons, Abby Dillon, Bruce Garrow, Deborah Leggott Absent but interested in participating on committee: Nancy Dyke (Windham) and Alison Trowbridge (Windham) I.      Wendy called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. II.     Election of chair postponed until next committee meeting (June 11, 2009) III.    Members of the Public:  None IV.     Wendy went over the charge of the committee.   V.      Discussion of document prepared by Kim Friedman and Alison Trowbridge A.      Problem Statement 1.)      Amount of time devoted to governance structure takes time away from other work that we expect superintendent to do. 2.)     Avg. 16 mtgs./month plus WCSU plus Brookline/Newfane plus negotiations 3.)     # admin staff at this meeting reflects concerns re demands on educational leader (superintendent) on her/his time a.       Administrators are left to operate autonomously to the detriment to students, policy, operations. 4.)     Not everything communicated at meetings needs to be discussed; this reflects a lack of experience on Board members’ part. Speaks to the need to increase Boards’ understanding of the role and responsibilities. 5.)     To maintain momentum created  by 2 – 3 yr project,  there must be consistency of Board members (turnover of boards is problematic) 6.)     Importance to include Principals in this process 7.)     Uneven board representation in various committees and uneven experience contributes to lack of consistency. 8.)     School Boards are responsible for overall policy. The Superintendent is responsible for operations. Turnover at both levels undermines quality, ability to provide educational leadership, and supervision/evaluation (staff & curriculum). 9.)     WCSU governance issues are common statewide. There are ways that boards and superintendent can work together to add issues within statutory requirements. 10.)    The Superintendent has responsibility but not the authority needed to move ahead; very problematic. 11.)    There is conflict between Board, Principal and Superintendent. Principals end up having more loyalty to Boards than Superintendent because of structure and turnover, which leads to a lack of cohesion.                 To research •     policy governance initiatives, e.g. Brent Kay’s SU (he has authority to make educational leadership decisions)•     roles and responsibilities of Boards (WCSU needs coherent understanding of these)                SUPERINTENDENT’S LIMITED AUTHORITY PLUS BOARD TURNOVER PLUS LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF BOARDS = DIFFICULT COMBINATION 12.)    Cohesive and inclusive decision-making at Board level is problematic; whoever shows up at Superboard meetings makes decisions (not necessarily inclusive) 13.)    Solutions already begun under Wendy Houlihan; example:  eliminated special education at schools; staff now employed thru Supervisory Union -       13 Supervisory districts have done this -       SU assessment to towns To research: other areas where this could be done 14.)    The committee approved the following change, offered by Frank, to the 3rd bullet: “SU Board is not set up as a forum to discuss initial education issues so they are brought to the eleven boards. This inefficiency lies at the heart of the governance issue.” (example:  Transportation)        15.)    Current structure requires the superintendent to make hard choices. Educational leader = day job Meetings = night job (interferes with educational leadership) May be possible with six boards, but not with 8 plus. A change in staff structure can’t compensate for these time demands. 16.)    Superintendent needs to be at board meetings to support Principals in appropriate roles and responsibilities. •     Speaks to need for training for boards and administrators.•     Board development should be part of the superintendent’s job. It is possible to do with fewer board members (impossible with 52 board members). Needs to be one-time and ongoing. 17.)    Lack of confidentiality has led in the past to drama. This has stopped with     Wendy Houlihan. 18.)    Leland and Gray gets short changed (Superintendent spends a disproportionate amount of time on the elementary schools. Leland and Gray = 400 students = 2 meetings/month Elementary = 550 students = 14 meetings/month 19.)    When presenting our final recommendations, it would be helpful to depict different governance models/options visually. B.      Shared Goals         To research: Re-assess the number of board members so it reflects current school enrollment (VT ratio). Having fewer Board members would address the difficulty in getting people to run.         Decision: Add new language: “The governance structure should reflect appropriate decision-making roles and responsibilities of Boards and the Superintendent.”              C. Committee’s Goals: No changes.         D. Committee Membership 1.      add a Principal 2.      School Board members 3.      Try to recruit School board members who are serving a 3-year term 4.      Community members: Ask retired School Board members (e.g., Jim Urbaska) who can represent the community 5.      Emphasize that all meetings are open.         Tickler:  Choose Committee Chair (Board member) at next meeting VI. Action Steps         1.) Recruit the rest of the committee members                 a.  find interested community members i. Deborah to ask Rebecca Holmes ii. Kim Friedman to ask Jim Urbaska if Rebecca says no VI.     Next meeting         6/11/09 @ 6:30 – 7:30 @ Newfane Elementary (Kim Friedman cannot attend)                                 Agenda items •     Identify research questions and resources (see research tasks identified during this meeting and refer to Wendy’s “Change Process” document•     Delegate research tasks