School Board Governance Principle Number Two
  The Board Connects With the Community

   - by Deb Etzel, President District 220 Board of Education

 

This month we will cover “The Board Connects with the Community”. Board members are elected by the community and as such, they are (as a group) responsible for ensuring that the Board works from the assembled vision of the community as a whole, advocates for continuous improvement and informs the community of the district’s performance. These tasks require an on-going two-way conversation with the community, which is a complex endeavor because our community is quite large. The school district covers 72 square miles, all or part of 12 municipalities and parts of four different counties. The population of the area is approximately 50,000 people and only about 30% of the households have children of school age. The fact that each adult has experience as a student means that each one of them has their own mental image of what school was like for them. This is then extrapolated into their impression of what school is or should be for our students.  Other than past experience as a student, today’s citizen bases his/her perception of school based entirely on newspaper articles and conversations at our local gathering places. This can give community members a rather limited view of what is taking place in our schools.

In order for the board to understand the community’s educational aspirations and desires interactive communication is necessary. This is so important to us that it is one of our key Strategic Plan initiatives and our Superintendent, Dr. Mary Herrmann, has undertaken several action steps to assist in this process. They include:

  • Bi-monthly publication – Your School District Connection - sent to all District 220 residents

  • Our redesigned District web site: www.cusd220.lake.k12.il.us

  • Discussion groups with community members held on specific topics

  • An Annual Review (for which we won an award this past year) sent. to all residents.

  • The Superintendent’s community leadership council which meets quarterly

  • A variety of parent activities at all school levels – open houses, parent-teacher conferences, PTO newsletters and meetings, principal coffees, parades, volunteering opportunities, sporting events, performing arts events, etc.

Community members such as those on PTO’s, the District 220 Educational Foundation and volunteers on District 220 committees or in our schools are a vital part of the process. But when it comes to communicating complex ideas and a continuously changing situation, there is almost never enough interaction.

To help with this dilemma, I would like to appeal to you.

As parents and staff, you are the closest to our education process and have many valuable insights. If you have ideas about how to best reach members of our community, in a fiscally responsible manner, the board would like to hear them.  You may contact me at detzel@cusd220.lake.k12.il.us (other board member emails are available on the web site). Understanding the community’s educational aspirations is an even harder task. As diverse a community as we are, finding the “right” course is difficult. Again, please take the initiative to let board members know the direction you would like to see our district travel.

 

This page was updated on 05/22/2007