Administrative Reports
Doug Larson, Director of Policy & Legal Services, presented a overview of Board of Education Commitments and Ethics.
Ben Horsely, Director of Communications, provided a legislative update for the board. For more information on the 2018 Legislative Session as it relates to public education, please contact the Communications Department at 385-646-4529.
Board Meeting
Reverence – Taylorsville High Madrigals
Recognition
The board recognized February 5-9, 2018, as National School Counseling Week and applauded the efforts of Granite’s school counselors.
Citizen Participation
One member of the public addressed the board regarding the student travel policy.
Consent Items
Contracts
Comprehensive Guidance Plan
LAND Trust Amendments
LAND Trust 2016-17 Final Reports
Student Travel Exception, Cottonwood Debate Team
Management of Food Services
Administrative Appointments
Garett Muse, Principal of Taylorsville High, has been appointed to be Director of High Schools in School Leadership and Improvement Services. He is replacing Alan Parrish, who is retiring.
Emme Liddell, Assistant Principal of Taylorsville High, has been appointed to be Principal of Taylorsville High School. These appointments will take effect March 5, 2018.
Action Items
The board approved the 2019-2020 School Year Calendar. For information about the calendar or the district’s Calendaring Committee, please contact School Leadership and Improvement Services at 385-646-4510. View calendar presentation
The board approved a second reading of the Donations and Other Organizational Effectiveness Policy as presented by Doug Larson, Director of Policy & Legal Services.
David Schwartz says
My first comment may already be addressed and it is just my ignorance that is leading to my comment.
In the board report I would like to see how the individual board members vote on items. It may be there and I just don’t know where to look. If it isn’t I think it would be a good step towards transparency.
Another comment that I have is that it feels to me when you say that you value input that it is lip service more than anything. As an example I noticed in the presentation on the school calendar that the comments made by the public through the survey of more than 2000 respondents that many of the majorities thoughts were not incorporated into the schedule. There may be very good reasons why they were not incorporated but the presentation did not point out why they were not. The part that I am missing is I just can see the slides and not hear the presentation.
My comments are two parts. One, recording the meetings may be helpful. I know that many public groups do this and have it on YouTube to view or other places.
The second comment would be to follow up on surveys and and other input and state why major things weren’t done or were done. At least that way people feel like they were heard. They may not like the out come but it helps in understanding the outcome. When no back end follow up is given then it makes me, and I think others, feel like you don’t really value input you are just getting it to say you got it.
Granite Schools says
Hi David,
The board report is intended to be a quick summary of major items from the board meeting, which is why we don’t publish voting details, discussions, etc. All those details can be found in the Board Meeting Minutes. Here is a link to the full archive:
https://www.graniteschools.org/board/board-minutes/
Meeting minutes are posted after being approved by the board in the following meeting. All board meetings are recorded in accordance with state law. They are posted on the state website under public notices: https://www.utah.gov/pmn/index.html
With the Board Report, we simply want to push out information as quickly as possible to the public regarding items that were approved.
Input on the school year calendar is indeed valued. The feedback received from surveys assists the calendar committee develop the best possible schedule. This committee includes parents, employee group representatives, pta members, and many others besides district administrators. The challenge is balancing the multitude of preferences across the entire district. It’s a topic that, like most things, is very complex. In any case, I would highly encourage you to reach out to the School Leadership and Improvement Services Department at your convenience to discuss the calendar in full and provide your feedback directly to those who oversee the calendar committee: 385-646-4510.