Board Retreat - Board Priorities
The Board held their fall retreat on September 22. Here are the minutes. It includes both the worst and the best thing I think I have ever read about Seattle Schools leadership.
The minutes are a bit hard to follow because they make reference to documents, such as a survey and a gantt chart, which are not included in the minutes. Even without the complete set of reference materials, the meanings come through very clearly.
The meeting started with some chat about how the Board wished the Board would operate - as opposed to how they actually operate. Of course, the Board can operate any way they wish, so if they truly wanted to operate as they claim they do, then they would. This is just like me. I say that I want to exercise, but I just don't do it. So how much do I really, truly, genuinely want to exercise? Not that much. They paid lip services to these aspirations:
- the importance of having a self-evaluative tool
- following a policy governance model
- the need to complete the
Carr Recall
The Seattle Times is reporting that Rita Green has filed a petition for the recall of School Board Director Sherry Carr based on Director Carr's support for the original Creative Approach School Memorandum of Understanding.
Recalls are allowed only in cases in which the elected official is guilty of wrongdoing or has violated the oath of office. Case law and precident might set an even higher bar that requires the elected official to have knowingly violated their oath of office.
This recall turns on how the original MOU delegated to the superintendent the authority to waive District policies without specific Board approval.
The irony here, of course, is that the superintendent is always free to ignore any District policies at any time. The Board is both unwilling and unable to enforce any policies.
Recalls are allowed only in cases in which the elected official is guilty of wrongdoing or has violated the oath of office. Case law and precident might set an even higher bar that requires the elected official to have knowingly violated their oath of office.
This recall turns on how the original MOU delegated to the superintendent the authority to waive District policies without specific Board approval.
The irony here, of course, is that the superintendent is always free to ignore any District policies at any time. The Board is both unwilling and unable to enforce any policies.