Board Meeting April 15

We seem to be practicing for moving to one meeting per month. Not so much on the agenda of great excitement (I hope I am not getting jaded already:) and done pretty promptly. We were presented with this health and wellness program for faculty that is sponsored by the Vermont Health Insurance system for teachers that somehow pays each teacher for participating in wellness activities AND then gives the schools money to match what teachers get--all for FREE (or included in the increase in health care expenses???). Not much to argue about here, unless one is against health and monetary incentives and matching funds for schools (although now that I mention the health care premiums, I do realize this could be just a new profit center for the insurance company???). Still, I think the idea is that there are lots of benefits from a healthy faculty and this actually lessens health care costs overall and may lessen sick days, et al and help morale (as well as give kids better role models in seeing healthy adults around them. Other "highlights" include review the monthly budget figures, adopting new head lice policy (much more humane than previous quarantine approach), update on the school's apparently continually malfunctioning freezer that the principal is trying hard to get replaced (for free) by the original provider(s), and approving our audit firm (if this doesn't make you want to join right in at the meetings, I don't know what would :) ). Thankfully, I am not on the contract negotiating committees--these may be more exciting but I don't think exactly a lot of fun.

Board Meeting April 1

Come 25 minutes late and you can miss the whole agenda! Between a late soccer game and blinding fog, I missed what must have been really short reports and reading of policies and some action on paying for our share of the BFUHS fuel pump repairs and then reappointing teachers for next year. I did arrive to learn that all of this work was "pro forma"--meaning I guess we have no real say in all this. I realize reappointing teachers happens every year, but any issue related to personnel seems the most important aspect of the board's role in assuring quality. So when we got to the appointment of new teachers, I raised the question if the board sees resumes before we vote for these appointments. I guess this hasn't been past practice, and in the case of the current principal, members felt we have trust and faith in his decisions. While I think boards need to be careful to not micromanage, it seems we should have policies not based on who is the principal today but what is the right action to assure quality and accountability. I believe we should see resumes for many reasons: 1) So we as board members can celebrate, brag about, and be inspired by the qualifications our hires bring, 2) To be able to make some connection with new hires to make them feel more welcome to our community, 3) To be responsible for our approval of appointments (with just their name to vote on, I feel like if I am signing a legal document without reading it), 4) To get a picture of how our various hires fit together and if we are working towards the right mix of talents for the school, 5) To ensure against malfeasance if someone was being hired who lacked any qualifications or if 5 hires in row happened to be from the principal's mother's hometown or whatever. I have great faith in this principal (and in all humans for that matter)--but to have no oversight at all is inviting someone who may be tempted to be unscrupulous to become so, 6) Given all the paper copied for board meetings already, making 5 copies of a resume isn't asking that much. Even without resumes I was thrilled we were able to hire Cynthia Payne-Meyer for next year. As her resume would show (if we had it), and as we know from our experience having her teach our son this year (and comments from many other parents), she is one of the strongest teachers we have at Westminster. It is great to have her on board permanently. After this excitement, all we had to do was read the 18 page Federal Family and Medical Leave Act (Public Law 103-3)--A well intended law but expensive to implement. Upon close reading, we learned the school or board really has no say over employees taking leave. As long as they have the sick days accumulated and a real reason, they merely have to inform the employer if they will be taking family or medical leave and are entitled to up to 6 weeks paid and 12 weeks total in any 12 month period. It's too bad this can impact kids' learning, but such is the law. By 8:15 we were done, and driving about 2 miles an hour in the fog, I only drove off the pavement once and got home by 8:30!