Board of Education work session addresses recent board vacancy
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- The St. Joseph School District Board of Education met at 5:30 p.m., at the Troester Media Center, to address issues like paid parental leave and the recent board vacancy.
The deadline for filing to the open position, vacated with the resignation of Rick Gehring, is May 13. The board has decided to compile a list of questions that will be shared with each candidate by board president Latonya Williams in an open board meeting. Board members will evaluate each candidate based upon a rubric similar to the one used to determine the election of the new school superintendent.
Superintendent Dr. Ashly McGinnis said that the district wants this process, as well as the future of the Long Range Plan to be transparent and to include as much community input as possible.
"When we went through the Vision Forward process a few years ago, one of the suggestions that came out of that was to rebrand," McGinnis said. "So we have sent out another survey this week."
McGinnis that added she hopes people who may be getting "survey fatigue" would recognize how important the input is for the district as it makes decisions about the two high school model and the allocation of future funds.
Input may be particularly helpful based upon the recent failure of Proposition 2 to pass in the April election. Survey results shared at the work session included an overview of both the positive and negative perceptions of both the proposition and the newly proposed high school model. Concerns in the survey included a lack of trust in the process, as well as the lack of details about the specifics of the plan.
Furthermore, the survey included negative perceptions of the details of the location of new high schools and the overall impact on existing staff and faculty. Board member Whitney Lanning said she believes more specific details about "Plan B" from the board will be shared by the end of June.
The board reviewed job descriptions and policies and also heard a report on ELA and science resources for the coming school year.
For a full agenda and more information about future meetings, visit sjsd.k12.mo.us.
