School Governance: Journal #3

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by Harmony Harvell3 views·Updated Sep 9, 2020
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  1. reflective practitioner video journal Number three School Governance and I
  2. Am Harmony Harvell.
  3. Tonight, September 8th 2020.
  4. I attended our school board meeting in Rincon Valley School
  5. District in that the school district that I work.
  6. So tonight I was taking a look at power struggles.
  7. We have a five member board, and all of them
  8. have been members are parents in our community For at
  9. least 15 plus years, we have on the board three
  10. that have been also board members for 15 plus years.
  11. And to newer board members, the most power struggle that
  12. I see is between the board members who have been
  13. on the board longer, particularly our current president and our
  14. past president.
  15. So our current president, his style is methodical.
  16. Slow takes Robert's rules of order very seriously and clips
  17. at a slow pace.
  18. Our former president, who just left her seat as president
  19. about Wells it was at the end of last school
  20. year. Um, and of course, she's still a board member.
  21. And she's secretary.
  22. She was president for quite a long time, numerous times
  23. over, and her style is, you know, quite clipped moves
  24. on the agenda and just kind of just moves along
  25. more of, ah, faster pace.
  26. So what will happen is our current president will call
  27. for emotion, and she's always the first Teoh make emotion,
  28. and she doesn't end somewhat a quick and gruff way
  29. on the two of them kind of push pull with
  30. the speed of which they talk and how speedily the
  31. agenda gets taking care off.
  32. So I kind of see that between the two of
  33. them quite a bit.
  34. The second power struggle is between a newer board member
  35. who asked a lot of questions, and he kind until
  36. there's some irritants in the other board members to kind
  37. of have him either ask these questions in closed session
  38. or kind of also move along with his question asked.
  39. Sometimes it seems like he's varying in tow, asking specific
  40. questions about a specific site that his Children attend.
  41. So there's that kind of, um, push and pull between,
  42. like, kind of get your questions taking care of in
  43. a different forum that you can kind of see happening.
  44. The second is our use of language.
  45. Ah, formal or informal.
  46. Our board is very conversational.
  47. They try really hard to make it formal by calling
  48. community members and each other by last name, but it
  49. it falls apart quite quickly on the regular.
  50. Uh, this community is close.
  51. They've known each other for a very long time.
  52. Their teachers and parents who no board members in a
  53. lot of different ways personally, So it usually goes to
  54. an informal level.
  55. Now, when they're talking about things that maybe they're not
  56. as familiar with, you will see its spa transition to
  57. formal a ZX there looking at maybe something that's not
  58. quite in their comfort zone.
  59. So next I was looking at some underlying beliefs.
  60. So what I really have felt across is an underlying
  61. belief for this board is, um, the importance of special
  62. education and making sure that it is funded and it
  63. is inclusive and that it is, um, well taught and
  64. that laws are being followed.
  65. And the other underlying belief that I've, um I can
  66. you can feel across is the importance for music.
  67. So music, education and putting that as a priority, really,
  68. sometimes above all else, um, it is long held.
  69. Lastly is kind of a financial fear.
  70. Um, I don't know that I necessarily was a belief.
  71. But there's a financial fear that kind of has run
  72. a thread the last, like four or five years.
  73. Do we have enough money?
  74. Will we keep enough money?
  75. We're spending too much money.
  76. Um, so that kind of always is in an underbelly
  77. of conversation.
  78. Lesson learned for myself.
  79. I don't have anything new that I learned tonight.
  80. I have been attending board meetings, both in the district.
  81. I live, right?
  82. And in the district, I work Rincon Valley.
  83. Eso I've been involved in some capacity in for at
  84. board meetings or in board meetings, Um, for the last
  85. 17 years.
  86. So I'm familiar with the process, and I have a
  87. comfort in and sitting in a board meeting, speaking in
  88. a board meeting, presenting at a board meeting so I
  89. don't have any new lessons learned tonight.
  90. Lastly, surprises surprises tonight actually were that the board used
  91. their open time at the end.
  92. Usually, Ah, union presidents go for both certificated classified to
  93. make a statement, and then they're able to make open
  94. statement. They usually do not.
  95. But tonight they decided Teoh acknowledge, uh, admin certificated, classified
  96. for the work that they've been doing during distance learning,
  97. so that was a nice surprise to see that acknowledgement.
  98. Um, my last one is It is an unanswered question
  99. that I've had for a long time that I have
  100. never taken the time to really answer.
  101. But I need to.
  102. Which is I feel like I want to understand where
  103. the real decision making a curse, because to me it
  104. doesn't feel like it occurs in open session.
  105. Our board has never never descended from each other.
  106. They always vote unanimously, and it doesn't feel to me
  107. that that's authentic.
  108. And it's start because somebody had to disagree.
  109. Somewhere along the line, they got to a point where
  110. they all agreed.
  111. So my question is, does that just happen in closed
  112. session where they have those conversations and bigger out?
  113. Where we going with this?
  114. What's our decision?
  115. Does that happen in some other type of forum?
  116. Is the superintendent the liaison to make those those recommendations
  117. to them privately, outside.
  118. I'm just wanting to understand, um, were the rial decision
  119. making time and process happens and how that happens and
  120. when that happens because when they come to an open
  121. board meeting, it's clear that nothing there may or may
  122. not sway their mind, but they definitely have come already
  123. with their decision which way they're going to vote.
  124. So that's a current unanswered question.
  125. Thank you for your time.
  126. Um, I am Harmony Harville, and this is my reflective
  127. practitioner video journal number three on school governance.