There are times when I truly believe I may be getting too old for this news reporting business.
I planned to attend Wednesday morning’s meeting of the Hamilton Southeastern School Board Policy Committee. I thought the meeting began at 8:30 a.m. Had I checked the agenda more carefully, I would have seen it started at 8:00. By the time I arrived at the administration building, the meeting had already been over for several minutes.
Fortunately, I ran into school board member Suzanne Thomas while walking in. Although Thomas is not a member of the policy committee, she typically attends the meetings as an observer. She had recorded the audio from the session and offered to play it for me, an offer I gladly accepted.
During the meeting, the committee reviewed three proposed policy changes. Two of the items dealt with public records procedures and background checks for employees and volunteers. Those proposals were routine updates and did not generate much discussion.
The third proposal drew considerably more attention. It addresses how and when school board members may attend certain district meetings that are not officially considered meetings of the board or its committees.
The proposal begins with a broad statement outlining the board’s oversight responsibilities. The language emphasizes transparency, accountability and the duty of individual board members—elected by the community—to have access to information necessary to oversee district operations and policy decisions.
More detailed language follows, describing circumstances under which board members could attend certain “district meetings.” These meetings include collective bargaining sessions between district administrators and the teachers’ union, insurance committee meetings, curriculum adoption committees and ad-hoc budget reduction committees.
Under the proposal, the board president could appoint a board member to attend such meetings as a non-voting observer. The appointed member would be required to notify the superintendent in advance and obtain approval from both the board president and the superintendent before attending.
The policy would also give the board president or superintendent authority to limit attendance because of confidentiality or legal concerns.
Board members attending these meetings would have a strictly observational role. They would not be permitted to ask questions, participate in discussions, record the proceedings, or publicly share notes or information obtained from the meetings. Any observations could only be discussed with fellow board members during executive session when allowed under Indiana law.
In addition, the policy specifies that board members would attend these meetings without compensation.
Policy committee members Dawn Lang and Juanita Albright both appeared to support adding the language to the district’s official policies. They indicated they would favor approval when the full Hamilton Southeastern School Board meets next Wednesday, March 11.
Seeing Suzanne Thomas did give us the chance to talk about her recently becoming a grandparent and we both discussed the joys of grandparenting.