Arriving at one
of the biweekly board meetings for Goshen Public Schools on Monday evening, the
14th of May, I was surprised at encountering such a large crowd with
several people standing in the back of the room and even a small crowd spilling
out the door. I guess I hadn’t imagined school board meetings were quite so
popular! However, after questioning a woman standing beside me, I realized that
the first half of the board meeting was set aside as a time to honor exceptional
students with a casual ceremony of recognition. Later however, after the awards
began to wrap-up and parents and families of award-recipients began to leave,
the customary, logistical board meeting began.
Each of the
topics for discussion was organized by number (to the tenth place) and label. There
were 10-12 members present and the president of the board acted as chief administrator.
The meeting consisted first of logistics regarding building maintenance,
progressed to the approval of various motions (including items such as
computers, textbooks, the purchase of land), and finally included the
institution of new administrators, including two new principles and a new board
representative. It finished with miscellaneous items such as the scheduling of
a summer board meeting in mid-July and an announcement of upcoming retirement
parties and other events.
The dynamic between
members of the school board and the general public was formal and very
respectful. For some of the night’s more weighted proposals, the outcome had
essentially been pre-determined and the board’s involvement was ultimately a
mere formality. For instance, the institution of the two principals had already
been determined, but the board completed the process formally. The research
behind many of the finance-related proposals had also established the best
financial plan prior to the meeting, and the board served merely as the means to
officially pass the proposal.
Interestingly,
none of the board proposals were refuted, and, furthermore, each of them passed
with unanimous support. For this reason, I wondered if the board was really
involved in the decision-making process. However, at certain times the board did ask questions, requesting further
information on a proposal in order to better understand it. I wonder, then, if
the board’s unanimity is a reflection on its homogeneity, or if, instead, the
board members were just well-informed and the proposals extremely well planned.
Likely, however, it is a combination of each which contributes most to the
uniformity of their decisions. And although more discussion may have been
useful, the process still appeared very organized and democratic.
