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Last Updated: Jun 12, 2009 - 6:03:42 PM |
Their charter established, the Joint Board of Supervisors and School Board Liaison Committee is now ready to tackle the issues that face both boards in the coming months.
“Our goal is to work more closely with the school board. We look at it as an opportunity to have a direct board-to-board relationship,” says Dorothy Jaeckle, Bermuda District representative on the Board of Supervisors. “This Liaison Committee is just one aspect of our attempt to have a more direct board-to-board relationship. Board members on both sides are attending each other’s work sessions.”
Holding their second meeting on October 7, the committee met to approve their charter, discuss the Design for Excellence and the school system’s changing demographics, and review school funding formulas.
“I’m so impressed with the spirit of collaboration between the School Board and the Board of Supervisors,” says Dr. Marcus Newsome, Superintendent of CCPS. “It really exceeded my expectations.”
Conducting their first meeting on July 9, the committee was started to help strengthen communications between the School Board and the Board of Supervisors. Looking at topics ranging from the budget and financial resource allocation to land acquisitions and comprehensive planning, the committee hopes that the liaison between the two boards will help increase the efficiency and effectiveness of both boards, improve the quality of education, and enhance the quality of life and safety in the community.
“We thought it would be a good idea after the turnover on the Board of Supervisors to bring people up to speed about the issues, especially with the situation of the economy right now,” says Marshall Trammell, Vice-Chair and Bermuda District representative on the School Board.
Though the current liaison committee only held their first meeting in July, the idea for a joint Board of Supervisors and School Board committee is hardly a new one.
“A joint committee was started even before I came to the board in 1991, but it hasn’t been consistently used by both boards over the years,” says Trammell. “With the exception of Art Warren, the entire Board of Supervisors consists of new members, so we thought that it would be a good idea to start the committee back up to give a heads-up about the major issues that would concern both boards. I think it has a lot of beneficial potential.”
The joint committee consists of Jaeckle and Marleen Durfee, members of the Board of Supervisors; Trammell and Dianne Pettitt, members of the School Board; Jay Stegmaier, County Administrator; and Dr. Marcus Newsome, CCPS Superintendent. Currently, the joint committee has decided to meet the first Tuesday of every other month. Their next meeting is scheduled for December 2 and tentative plans call for a discussion of the budget and a follow-up on the Design for Excellence.
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