A new board has created a new day for the Mountain View School District! The School Board wants to make every attempt possible for the community to communicate with them. The first three efforts in this approach are a survey concerning the 4-Day School Week, hosting a series of budget workshops to assist the community in better understanding the district financials, and a thirty minute “Open Conversation with the Board” session before each school board meeting.
Last week, the survey was launched to students, parents, staff, and the community, for the week of January 29th through February 5th to collect impressions from a variety of different audiences. This nonscientific survey was to collect perceptions of those who took the survey to be discussed at the February Regular Board Meeting. The board investigated the Google form and found the only way to limit responses was to ask for email addresses. These email addresses will not be used in any other way. It is important to note the Trustees committed to a two year ‘trial’ with wanting feedback to assess the direction in future years.
Budget Workshops are a second effort, planned to assist the community to better understand the term called ‘the budget.’ At the state and national levels the community hears a dollar figure without knowing where or how that funding is spent. Budget Workshops have a purpose to inform the community so that a dollar figure becomes more than a number. The budget is broken down into smaller parts through this series. These workshops take place at the district office on February 12 at 6pm, Feb 17th at 10am, and Feb 29 at 6pm.
Community members are encouraged to participate as they are advertised as a Quorum of the Board in Attendance at the Budget Workshop. This means no action will be taken nor minutes taken in order to meet the requirements of the Open Meeting Law. The format of each presentation is to provide a presentation of a specific portion of the budget that is followed up by discussion with the audience.
The third effort is the board meetings will have executive session at 5:30 closed to the public, then a town hall open conversation with the board at 6:00pm with no minutes, then the regular session at 6:30pm where public with have three minutes at the beginning of the meeting to formally speak to the board but the board will not be able to interact as they did before. The next board meetings are February 15 at Clearwater Valley High School Library and March 21 at the District Office.
Check the district website to confirm the time of the meeting as changes will be announced at the District Office and on the website.
Link to sd244 Public Notices here.