HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 04-26-2004- 7APPROVED 2117/04 /
Facilitator's Meeting Notes
2/ro/o4
Southern Human Services Center
2:0o PM - 3:45PM
Group members (6): Shirley Carraway, Elizabeth Carter, Keith Cools, Barry
Jacobs, John Linlc, Neil Pedersen, Staff: Rod Visser. Andy Sachs (facilitator).
Decisions
Group will meet again February r~, 2: r5 - 3:45 at the County Government
Services Center in Hillsbolrough, Desired outcomes of that meeting are (r)
agreement on suggested areas of collaboration across the two school districts and
(2) a plan for a,joint session of the two school boards.
Andy will provide a cost estimate for facilitating next steps in the collaborative
process,
Draft meeting notes are to be distributed by facilitator to group members with
request that changes be emailed back within two working days, After that time,
facilitator is to prepare and distribute final version of meeting notes to group
members, Group members may share that final version with fellow board
members as desired. A simpler meeting summary maybe prepared by the
facilitator to aid him in responding to requests from the public for information
about the group's progress. Andy should respond affirmatively if media inquires
with him about attending these meeting.
Meeting Discussions
What Counts
Group members reviewed suggestions for collaboration that have been made in
various past forums (e.g,, r/2~/o4 facilitated meeting, Commissioners' proposals
from it/u/o3, communications between and resolutions by the school boards,
2/or/o2 Collaboration Committee Memo).
Mr, Linlc said he was looking for tangible efforts at collaboration. Mr. Cools said
that tangible is not the only criterion to apply, and offered alternative schools as
an example, Alternative Schools would be a tangible collaboration, but GCS's
alternative school program is,just getting started, needs to remain small while it
becomes stronger, and needs to have oversight in closer proximity than he would
imagine possible under a,joint City/County arrangement,
Commissioner Jacobs said that he wanted the school districts to share the details
of their thinking with the Board of County Commissioners when one or both
rejects suggestions for collaboration. Mr. Cools said that the group needed to
clarify whose decision it is to choose the areas of collaboration between the two
school districts, He added that he hoped the Board of County Commissioners
would respect the experience and expertise of the districts' staff and elected
officials, who have been dealing with public education on a daily basis for many
years. Mr, Jacobs said that his intention in asking the school districts to share
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the details of their thinking is to create an environment in which good reasoning
dictated which collaborative efforts were advocated by the Commissioners or
undertaken or rejected by the school districts.
Ms. Carter said that it would be worthwhile for the school districts to try for
"intangible" as well as tangible outcomes. In particular, she said it would be
worthwhile to try improving the working relationship across the boards. Mr.
Pedersen observed that the power among the group members was more balanced
in today's and the i/2~/o4 meeting than in meetings with the County he has
attended in the past, He attributed this to the equal number of participants from
each jurisdiction, the meeting purposes ("we're not groveling") and the presence
of a neutral facilitator, He asked the group to consider ways to establish formal
structui°es that would allow this balance, and the consequent development of
trust and communication, to continue.
The group then shifted its attention back to the list of suggestions for
collaboration. Perhaps it would be fruitful to streamline the list (delegated to
staff) and determine which items were of interest to which group members.
Items of interest to the group members of both school districts would be
presented to the full boards for their consideration. A reasonable explanation
would be provided by the school districts to the Board of County Commissioners
for items on the list that one or both school boards are not interested in pursuing,
There might be more discussion between the Commissioners and one or both
districts regarding suggestions on the list that are not taken. Those discussions
would be for the purpose of clarifying the school boards' reasoning. Dr. Carraway
said that she would want to know if the Commissioners could not follow her
reasoning, and so welcomed such a process. A matrix reflecting the group's first
cut at this work follows on the next two pages,
Meeting adjourned 345 PM
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ors execs sore
interested
Suggested Area of Collaboration interested interested in school
exploring? exploring? ~
'
e
Iorin
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Ideas 7•aised in s 2y oq facilitated meetin :
r. Transportation J J J
z. Co-housing central office staff J
3, Alternative school J J J
4. Opening City School's AP Honors courses to County students. J J J
5. Opening County vocational courses to City students. J J J
6, Tangible, improved access by students to some function provided by the J J J
schools
~. Priorities: the level at which educational programs should be provided. J
8. Improving efficiency J J J
9. Programming for staff J J J
ro. Programming for students J J J
n. Working relationship: ensure that communication is healthy, open and J J J
trustin .
rz. Shared definition of "mandate:" which budget items are required by state
and federal authorities, which items are otherwise necessary to operations, J J J
which fall into neither rate o ?
r3, Identify where to put any additional per pupil allotment that would be
generated if new fund were created for example through a countywide J J J
district tax ("new aradi m").
Idea •om u u o3 Commissioner Brown ro osalr
r4. Commit to supporting the proposed Educational Excellence Task Force's J J J
mission throw h coo erative and Tactical means.
Ideas •om a ii o3 Commissioner Gordon ro osal:
x5. In partnership with the commissioners, work with a facilitator to identify J J J
concrete ste s for collaboration.
x6. Agree on funding, facilitator and other aspects of collaboration study by J J J
February zoo .
r~. Produce an interim report by May zoo4 in time to initiate some meaningful J J J
collaboration durin 2oo4-zoos school ear if at all ossible.
18. Recommend significant collaboration that will take place during the 2005- J J J
zoo6 school ear and be and in a final re ort.
Ideas •omri a o3CommissionerJacobs ro osal:
rg. Coordinate implementation of middle college program, preferably in concert J J J
with Durham Tech.
zo. A single alternative school program for students in both districts. J
2r. A plan to allow students in each district to readily access courses and
programs not available in their district but offered in the county's other school J J J
s stem.
zz. A plan to institute regular meetings between the superintendents and their
respective staffs to examine areas of mutual educational interest and potential J J J
cooperation, including an annual report to the public on their progress at
worlcin to ether.
z3. Early childhood programs. J J J
24. Expose parents in the City schools to the features of the County year round
schools at Hillsborough Elementary and Stanback Middle School. J J
25. A strategy for promoting contacts between children in the respective school J J J
s stems on an on oin basis be and athletics.
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Ideas ~om xz o8 03 CHCCS letter to OCS
26. Build on foundation provided by merger study process to identify ~ J ~
instructional ro rams.
2'J. Middle college program. ~ ~ ~
z8.Opportunities for students in each district to participate in programs in the J ~ J
other district that are not now current/ available to them.
Ideas •om xx o9 03 CHCCS Resolution:
z9. Middle college and/or more extensive dual enrollment programs with local J ~ ~
communi cone es.
30, A plan that would allow any City high school students who wish to attend a
OCS high school to participate in a program of study not available in then City ~ ~ ~
district.
3x. A reciprocal arrangement to be developed that would go into effect upon the
opening of CHCCS's third high school (anticipated zoob-7) or could be instituted ~ J J
sooner on a one-to-one trade-off of students (so as not to increase high school
enrollment due to collaboration).
Ideas rom z ox o2 Collaboration Committee Memo:
32. Determine next steps based on feedback received from the joint educational ~ ~ ~
0 ortunities surve .
33~ Request proposals from independent parties to conduct an analysis of
opportunities afforded by,joint operations of services such as transportation, J ~ J
child nutrition, purchasing, and maintenance. Seelc financial support from
BOCC to com lete the stud once a consultant is selected.
34 Issues related to the siting and planning of facilities will be referred to the ~ ~ ~
Facilities Task Force.
35 The two superintendents will develop a definition of "mandates" and seek to ~ ~ J
reach a reement with the Coun Mana er.
36. Determine the amount of "excess capacity" in the two districts and seek input
from school governance committees, parents and students concerning their ~ J
interest in students attending schools in the other school district and in the
ossibili of mer in the two school districts.
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