School Board Meeting

Lily Dashiell
EDU-101
Professor Reinard
December 6, 2021

This meeting took place on Wednesday December 1,2021. There was an outline given

for the meeting which states “ To discuss the appointment, employment, assignment, promotion,

discipline, demotion, compensation, removal, resignation, or performance evaluation of

appointees, employees or officials over whom this public body had jurisdiction any other

personnel matter that affects one or more specific individuals.” It also states “ to consult with

counsel to obtain legal advice” and “to consult with staff, consultants or other individuals about

pending potential litigation. At the beginning there was a vote for president, it was between Marc

Schifanelli and Richard Smith, Richard has been the president and will continue to be. There

was then a vote for vice president between Helen Bennett and Tamera Harper, Tamera was

voted the new vice president for the next year. Other than the people listed I was aware of

Shannon Bent, Dr. Patricia Saelens who was listed as the superintendent, Amy Hudock who is

the assistant superintendent. The beginning of the meeting was going over current board action

items. It was a lot of voting and making motions. Then Dr.Saelens announced recognitions.

These were awards given out to different members of the school system. I noticed there was

also a student board member. Next it moved onto a discussion of involvement within the board.

They listed different events and occurrences. The vice president provided thanks for all the

businesses supporting the board and any one providing funding. A snapshot was provided of

what's occurring in each school in the county. They started with the elementary schools and

moved up. After this they went into public comments. This was a good opportunity to allow for

the public to have comments and voice their concerns. Around halfway through the meeting

there was a break. When they came back they went over the current board items, a few

examples were changes to the 2021-2022 calendar, and the school health policy. After this
there was more time for public comments and finally they went over the dates of future

meetings.

I found this meeting to be very interesting. I think it's a fantastic way to address the

public about concerns and any other things they wanted to know about. The members of the

board address just about anything they need to. I thought it was great how there was time for

the public to make comments or bring up a topic they think needs to be addressed. It's also

awesome that this is available to be attended by anyone, and if youre not able to make it you

can watch these recordings. It shows how clear and open the board intends to be, allowing for

the insight to these meetings.

I was unaware of how big these meetings are and how much they go over. I kept my

writing concise because honestly it's a bit confusing at times, just with the language they use

alone it's easy to get thrown off. I also thought it was interesting and morale boosting to

administer these awards during the meeting. Overall I found this assignment to be very

interesting and eye opening as well. It provided a view into the more administrative level of

education. Even further than administrative, it's also a little intimidating to see everyone

discussing these topics and knowing how much power they hold. I'm excited to continue to learn

more and be able to follow the meetings more clearly.