The Observation Deck

Bill Call wrote:

excelerate

accelerate, Bill, accelerate---- check your spelling and

Grammar and spelling should be requisites for all members or aspirants to the education community.
Stan

Sean Wheeler wrote:What raises, Bill? Last I heard we agreed to a pay freeze. If you'd like to come by and peruse my pay stubs, you're welcome to come by.

For further explanation, please see what I wrote after every other time you've offered up this red herring.

Hello Sean,

Mr.Call might be referring to the following:

http://www.cleveland.com/sunpostherald/index.ssf/2011/05/new_lakewood_teachers_contract.html

Scott Meeson

Fair enough. Maybe I need to check my pay stub!

Thanks for the clarification.

On the other hand: The school district has earned an "Excellent" rating from the state. Maybe my thoughts and other discussions of accountability and/or transparency serves as a "cancer" (for lack of a better word at this time) to those "shared values" that enable a school district to keep moving forward?

I would agree that it is necessary for the school board to meet in executive session to consider employment matters and some contracts; however, whenever appropriate the board ought to be willing to discuss matters publicly. Discussing issues, answering questions from constituents, and a genuine attempt to be open is a sign of good leadership. The school board used to have special (the minutes you posted were from a special meeting) and committee meetings in addition to regular meetings that the public could attend. A few years ago they stopped these meetings and now most special meetings go right into executive session. As a public, we don’t know what is discussed in those sessions. I am not saying we should. Executive Sessions are designed to be for specific purposes (employment, contracts). If board members are voting on issues during regular meetings (Mondays—twice a month) and they’re not meeting in committees, then when do they discuss the items before them that do not fall under the need for executive session? By not holding open committee meetings, I believe, does a disservice to the public and to the board. When I attended committee meetings and listened to the discussions I began to really appreciate the challenges of being a school board member. I think most people would respect their decisions, even when they didn't agree, if they felt like the board was being honest with them.

Additionally, our excellent rating should be celebrated. Yet, there is still work to be done. Currently, we have 2 elementary schools in school choice status, we have students with special needs under- performing as compared to districts similar to Lakewood, and we do have parent and community members distrustful of board decisions. Our administrators and teachers should be commended on all of their hard work and dedication to helping Lakewood move in the right direction. Our board has hired some great people—and those are the people who deserve the most credit.