| School Board Committee Positions Available |
There are currently four standing committees of the Sun Prairie Area School District Board. Each committee is made up of school board members and two community members. Terms of appointment are two years beginning August 1, 2010 – July 31, 2012.
Application Deadline: Friday, June 25, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. Click here for Application. Facilities, Technology & Transportation Finance Education & Policy Human Resources The deadline for filing applications is 4:00 p.m. on June 25, 2010. Copies of policy BCE, Board Committees, and procedure BCE-R, Board Committee Procedures, are available upon request at the District Office weekdays between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. or on the District website at www.sunprairie.k12.wi.us. (To locate the specific policy or procedure, choose “Seach Policies & Procedures” on the right sidebar of the School District website. When searching policies, enter policies “BCE” or “BCE-R.”) |
Showing posts with label citizen representatives. Show all posts
Showing posts with label citizen representatives. Show all posts
Friday, June 18, 2010
June 25 is deadline for School Board Committee Applications
Got a few hours a month?
Concerned or interested in the inner workings of the school board?
Frustrated with the "3-minute" rule yet want to have input on school issues?
Hugely supportive of all the school board shenanigans and want to be a part of it?
If any of those rings a bell for you, please consider sending in an e-mail letter of application for one of the four (4) Citizen Representative seats available on School Board Committees.
....................................................
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Citizen Representative Interviews set
Some refreshing news for a change. Interest in citizen representative positions has lagged the past several years, with, on at least one occasion, the need to re-post and further seek volunteers to fill a seat.
Not so this year. In fact we have 9 different applicants for 5 available seats.
Interviews are scheduled for Monday July 20 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 and then Tuesday July 21 from 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
EDUCATION & POLICY COMMITTEE:
[5 applicants for one 2-yr vacancy]
John Welke, Jan Fournier, Christina Klawitter, Melissa Vervoort-Landsness, Patrick Anderson
FACILITIES, TECHNOLOGY & TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE:
[3 applicants for 2 vacancies; one 2-yr seat and one 1-yr seat]
John Welke, Erich Huemoeller, Patrick Anderson
FINANCE COMMITTEE:
[3 applicants for one 2-yr vacancy]
John Welke, Erich Huemoeller, Patrick Anderson
HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE:
[4 applicants for one 2-yr vacancy]
Betty Collier, Harold Rayford, Christina Keeley, John Welke
What's the crystal ball say about filling the slots?
Well...let's start with FT&T and Finance, as those are pretty easy. There are 3 seats available between the two committees and the same 3 candidates (Anders, Huemoeller, and Welke) are the only applicants for both. Unless board president John Whalen has some reason to "DQ" one or more of these candidates, it's a titanium lock that each will get a slot on either FT&T or Finance. [SP-EYE- How on earth would it look to play musical chairs and say, "Hey...we have 3 slots and 3 guys, but one of you doesn't get a seat?] But let's look a little closer and see if we can project further.
FINANCE and FT&T
There's only 1 seat, a 2-yr term, on Finance, a vacancy created when applicant Pat Anderson completes his term (1 yr) at the end of July. A casual observer might think, "Hey, he's served there, why not just "re-up" him and give him the seat. We won't presume to anticipate how Mr. Whalen will answer that, but certainly board Policy (BCE) and procedure (BCE-R) would seem to preclude Mr. Anderson's candidacy for Finance.
1. These policies only allow a citizen to serve on a Committee for a maximum of 2 consecutive years. Since this is a 2-yr seat, Mr. Anderson would have to serve 3 years, which would violate the policy. Of course Mr. Whalen could change the seat to a 1-yr term.
2. But that move would create some further problems with the policy by requiring that both citizen seats be filled next year. The board procedure indicates that "Every effort shall be made to avoid replacing both citizen members on any given committee in the same year". So...it might be possible. We'd be interested in understanding how Whalen would substantiate that "every effort"...let alone any effort... had been made to so, however.
3. Last but not least, board policy states that in order to be considered for a re-appointment, Mr. Anderson would have had to have submitted his request to do so prior to July 1, rather than the July 10 deadline for open seats. SP-EYE did not request copies of the candidates' letters, but it would seem that since re=appointment does not require an interview.
Therefore, for Financed, we see candidates Huemoeller and Welke vying for the Finance seat. Based on Huemoeller's background in finance and investing, we'd have to give the nod here to Huemoeller for Finance. That would place Anderson and Welke on FT&T.
EDUCATION & POLICY
Taking Anderson and Welke out of the mix because they now have been seated, leaves us with Jan Fournier (just completing a 2-yr term on FT&T) , Christina Klawitter, and Melissa Vervoort-Landsness.
This could be a tough call. On the one hand, we have Ms. Fournier, who has served the board well and is seen by some as eying a run for the school board next spring. Passing her over, however, would open the door for one of the new-comers to board committees. This is a tough call. If anyone has curriculum experience, they would get the edge over Fournier; otherwise our money is on Fournier.
HUMAN RESOURCES
Taking Welke out of the mix because he has been seated, leaves us with three newcomers: Betty Collier, Harold Rayford, Christina Keeley.
Without knowing their qualifications, Pastor Harold Rayford jumps out as an obvious choice. As a pastor, he certainly understands and has experience with the confidentiality needs that go hand in hand with HR issues. In addition, Pastor Rayford also has provided the district with an excellent resource in their recent efforts to effectively deal with the changing diversity of the school district. Our money is on Pastor Rayford for HR.
Of course...it goes without sayin' that...we're just sayin'. ANYTHING can happen with this school board! We will know for certain at the next regular board meeting on Monday July 27, when the committee appointments are voted on.
The downside of all this, of course, is that if the selections go as we predict, at least 3 and maybe 4 of the 5 newcomers to board-committee-land will be rebuffed in their first attempt to engage with the board. And that is unfortunate. Food for thought school board: since "nothing dies in committee" and ALL committee items eventually come to the full board, what's the harm in adding additional citizen representatives to the board committees? After all...you DO want to engage the community...right? And, as the board has said, the committees are the place to engage the board in discussion on "hot" topics....right?
In the worst case scenario, you MIGHT get a few more administrative recommendations coming out of committee with a "NO" vote. You can always cancel that at the board table...right? Thinking out of the box???
N
Not so this year. In fact we have 9 different applicants for 5 available seats.
Interviews are scheduled for Monday July 20 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 and then Tuesday July 21 from 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
EDUCATION & POLICY COMMITTEE:
[5 applicants for one 2-yr vacancy]
John Welke, Jan Fournier, Christina Klawitter, Melissa Vervoort-Landsness, Patrick Anderson
FACILITIES, TECHNOLOGY & TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE:
[3 applicants for 2 vacancies; one 2-yr seat and one 1-yr seat]
John Welke, Erich Huemoeller, Patrick Anderson
FINANCE COMMITTEE:
[3 applicants for one 2-yr vacancy]
John Welke, Erich Huemoeller, Patrick Anderson
HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE:
[4 applicants for one 2-yr vacancy]
Betty Collier, Harold Rayford, Christina Keeley, John Welke
What's the crystal ball say about filling the slots?
Well...let's start with FT&T and Finance, as those are pretty easy. There are 3 seats available between the two committees and the same 3 candidates (Anders, Huemoeller, and Welke) are the only applicants for both. Unless board president John Whalen has some reason to "DQ" one or more of these candidates, it's a titanium lock that each will get a slot on either FT&T or Finance. [SP-EYE- How on earth would it look to play musical chairs and say, "Hey...we have 3 slots and 3 guys, but one of you doesn't get a seat?] But let's look a little closer and see if we can project further.
FINANCE and FT&T
There's only 1 seat, a 2-yr term, on Finance, a vacancy created when applicant Pat Anderson completes his term (1 yr) at the end of July. A casual observer might think, "Hey, he's served there, why not just "re-up" him and give him the seat. We won't presume to anticipate how Mr. Whalen will answer that, but certainly board Policy (BCE) and procedure (BCE-R) would seem to preclude Mr. Anderson's candidacy for Finance.
1. These policies only allow a citizen to serve on a Committee for a maximum of 2 consecutive years. Since this is a 2-yr seat, Mr. Anderson would have to serve 3 years, which would violate the policy. Of course Mr. Whalen could change the seat to a 1-yr term.
2. But that move would create some further problems with the policy by requiring that both citizen seats be filled next year. The board procedure indicates that "Every effort shall be made to avoid replacing both citizen members on any given committee in the same year". So...it might be possible. We'd be interested in understanding how Whalen would substantiate that "every effort"...let alone any effort... had been made to so, however.
3. Last but not least, board policy states that in order to be considered for a re-appointment, Mr. Anderson would have had to have submitted his request to do so prior to July 1, rather than the July 10 deadline for open seats. SP-EYE did not request copies of the candidates' letters, but it would seem that since re=appointment does not require an interview.
Therefore, for Financed, we see candidates Huemoeller and Welke vying for the Finance seat. Based on Huemoeller's background in finance and investing, we'd have to give the nod here to Huemoeller for Finance. That would place Anderson and Welke on FT&T.
EDUCATION & POLICY
Taking Anderson and Welke out of the mix because they now have been seated, leaves us with Jan Fournier (just completing a 2-yr term on FT&T) , Christina Klawitter, and Melissa Vervoort-Landsness.
This could be a tough call. On the one hand, we have Ms. Fournier, who has served the board well and is seen by some as eying a run for the school board next spring. Passing her over, however, would open the door for one of the new-comers to board committees. This is a tough call. If anyone has curriculum experience, they would get the edge over Fournier; otherwise our money is on Fournier.
HUMAN RESOURCES
Taking Welke out of the mix because he has been seated, leaves us with three newcomers: Betty Collier, Harold Rayford, Christina Keeley.
Without knowing their qualifications, Pastor Harold Rayford jumps out as an obvious choice. As a pastor, he certainly understands and has experience with the confidentiality needs that go hand in hand with HR issues. In addition, Pastor Rayford also has provided the district with an excellent resource in their recent efforts to effectively deal with the changing diversity of the school district. Our money is on Pastor Rayford for HR.
Of course...it goes without sayin' that...we're just sayin'. ANYTHING can happen with this school board! We will know for certain at the next regular board meeting on Monday July 27, when the committee appointments are voted on.
The downside of all this, of course, is that if the selections go as we predict, at least 3 and maybe 4 of the 5 newcomers to board-committee-land will be rebuffed in their first attempt to engage with the board. And that is unfortunate. Food for thought school board: since "nothing dies in committee" and ALL committee items eventually come to the full board, what's the harm in adding additional citizen representatives to the board committees? After all...you DO want to engage the community...right? And, as the board has said, the committees are the place to engage the board in discussion on "hot" topics....right?
In the worst case scenario, you MIGHT get a few more administrative recommendations coming out of committee with a "NO" vote. You can always cancel that at the board table...right? Thinking out of the box???
N
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Appointment Process Redlines the BS Meter
On Monday night, July 28, 2008, the school board unanimously approved appointments of new citizen representatives to the Finance, FTT, Education & Policy, and Human Resources committees for one-year and two-year terms.This was subsequently reported by Sun Prairie Today.com, the Sun Prairie STAR, and in a July 30 e-mail sent out to the School District's "Key Communicator" e-mail list.
See the Sun Prairie Today.com report
Read the Sun Prairie STAR article
School Board President Stackhouse commented,
"It's a wonderful thing when people in the community step up and ask to serve in any form," Stackhouse said. "We had some excellent candidates for various positions, they bring great things to the
table."
But...hold on a second....one of those individuals withdrew his application and declined the opportunity to interview...yet he was appointed to a position nonetheless.
How on earth, does one manage to appoint someone to something when the individual has clearly communicated that they are no interested? In the course of appointing citizen representatives for its committees, the board managed to:
- appoint a citizen representative without conducting an interview in direct violation of board policy and procedure BCE-R.
- create a requisite application form which is neither discussed nor referenced in its policy BCE-R.
- inform candidates of interview times without their consultation less than 24 hours prior to making formal appointments (in fact the e-mail message of interview times actually said that the interviews would be conducted on Monday August 28).
- clearly opt NOT to retain Finance Committee citizen representative Dr. James Murray for a 2nd term (which could have been done) and then appoint him to the Education & Policy committee.
- ignore specifics of the application submission process outlined in policy.
The Process
The SPASD website indicated that applicants had to "complete and return an application and a letter of interest" prior to Friday June 27, 2007.
NOTE: Board Policy BCE-R (sect. A.4) says nothing about an "application". Interested citizens are only required to: " All applicants shall mail, e-mail to the District Administrator's secretary and get confirmation of receipt, or deliver to the District Administrator's office a letter containing the applicant's name, address, telephone number and a concise statement not exceeding 500 words of the applicant's qualifications and interest in appointment to a specified committee. "
Applicants received no communication from board President Stackhouse (or any board representative) until an e-mail from Stackhouse was sent Sunday July 27, 2008 at 4:03 PM informing all candidates of their interview time slots.
SP-EYE: Weird? Isn't it common practice to call candidates and offer them several options for an interview time?
Concerted Decision to not retain Murray
Board policy allows the board to re-appoint a current citizen representative to a 2nd 1-year term if that term does not coincide with the other citizen representations term. Dr. James Murray just completed his first year on the Finance committee and clearly indicated his interest in being re-appointed. Board past practice has been to re-appoint these people. Clearly, President Stackhouse made a firm decision NOT to re-appoint Dr,. Murray to the Finance committee. We assume he had reasons.How serious could Stackhouse's concerns have been if he proceeded to nominate Dr. Murray to The Education & Policy committee...despite being told that Murray was no longer interested in serving. Dr. Murray subsequently declined to appear for his interview.
The Applicants
7 people applied to fill 6 empty slots. Clearly this was a game of musical chairs and someone would be sitting out.
Finance: 4 candidates for 2 seats
FTT 2 candidates for 1 seat
E&P 2 candidates for 2 seats
HR 1 candidate for 1 seat
The Interview Process
Interviews were scheduled at 15-minute intervals Monday July 28 from 5:15 to 7:00 pm (despite e-mail message indicating the interview date to be August 28th).
The schedule was as follows:
__5:15: Patrick Anderson, (Finance, FTT)
__5:45: Rick Mealy (Finance)
__6:00: Tim Boylen (Finance)
__6:15: Scott Sedlacek (FTT)
__6:30: Jan Disch (HR, E&P)
__6:45: Robert Carlson (E&P)
Appointment
Interviews concluded at 7:00 pm
Why did Stackhouse nominate Dr. James Murray to a position direct violation of section A.5. board policy/procedure BCE-R???
"The Board president and/or committee chair will interview each candidate...prior to nominating a candidate to the Board for appointment to any standing committee." ?
Why also would Stackhouse have nominated Murray after he clearly declined consideration? (Murray sent e-mail to Stackhouse and also spoke by phone to board members Stackhouse and McCourt)
Why would the board proceed to make this appointment in light of the facts...something which the board likes to tell the public that they base their decisions on? Did Stackhouse and McCourt not communicate Murray's decision to other board members? If not, why not? They certainly seem to discuss a number of other things between meetings. Certainly, they should have released this information to the media before it was published.
The board likes to talk about "the wonderful things they do for the community's children"....yet they can't get a simply thing like citizen representative assignments right without violating their own policies and making a public mess of things.
So...now what? Does Tim Boylen get offered the Education & Policty seat to minimize the magnitude of this CF? Or do we start all over again looking for a citizen to fill the empty seat? Perhaps, if the board hadn't rushed to so quickly, this mess would not have been created. Don't we counsel our children, "Don't rush...do a quality job in all that you do"???
Read board policy BCE-R
SP-EYE: Be careful! There are multiple versions of this policy out on the district's website...but that's a whole different issue that needs to be addressed!
Check out the "application" form...which does not exist according to policy
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