COMMENTARY ON SCHOOL BOARD'S INABILITY TO PROVIDE OVERSIGHT:
Our Katy ISD School Board is an elected group of seven people.
They receive no salary for their service.
When someone decides to run for a school board, there are many motivating factors. Obviously, the most important is the power associated with the position. If one is part of the majority, one wields substantial power over the lives of all the families that reside in the District. I have often said this governmental body wields more direct influence on families’ lives than any other governmental body.
The School Board, through the policies they approve, tells families with
children when they can have vacations, which holidays they get to celebrate without
interference, how late their children can stay up (depending on the amount of homework
that is unloaded on them), what to believe and not believe, how to dress, what knowledge
they can learn, and so on. The impact is extreme.
For those and many other reasons, registered voters, citizens if you
will, need to make sure they understand the responsibilities of these Board Members so
that they can select wisely when they go to vote in the School Board election.
According to Board policy, the Board has “final authority to determine
and interpret the policies that govern the schools and, subject to the mandates and limits
imposed by state and federal authorities, has complete and full control of the District.”
The Board’s actions “shall be taken only in meetings that comply with
the Open Meetings Act.”
"The Board is charged with making policy to achieve the expressed goals
and philosophy of the District." By implication I would assume that the “goals and
the philosophy” are those of the elected Board and the community they represent and not
those of the Superintendent.
The primary duty of the Board, in my opinion, is to “continually measure
the results of its policies on the accomplishment of its educational goals and philosophy.
It must also measure the effectiveness of the administration in executing policies and
achieving the education goals.”
I am amused that over the years the verbiage of these duties has been
enhanced. Cutting through the amplification and simply stated the Board sets policy
and then makes certain that the administration follows the Board’s policies.
The second duty is JUST as important as the first, and in my opinion
this duty is the one most often neglected by the Board members.
The only way to ascertain that Board policy is being followed is to first know what the Board policy is and then ask enough intelligent questions to decide if that policy is in fact being implemented. Such informed decision making assumes that the Board members read Board Policy and commit much of it to memory, have read their Agenda Packets/Email each month, and have looked in to matters on their own. The Administrative Regulations are supposed to be a compendium of the actions taken by the superintendent to implement board policy. That compilation of rules is not supposed to be used in any other manner. I'm betting that our school board has never looked at the Administrative Regulations!
As a former Board member, I took that aspect (oversight) of my
responsibility very seriously. After attending Board meetings
for the last
couple of months, I am appalled at what appears to be seven people sitting around thanking
the world for things they should be doing anyway, creating one photo op after another, but
having not a clue about the serious items upon which they are voting.
In my opinion the Katy ISD Board is failing miserably in performing its
duties.
When Board items on the Board Agenda are approved without comment, there
is no evidence that such matters have been completely and adequately discussed.
When the Board approves items that are not listed or told about, as they
did on October 24, 2005, they are subverting the intent of the law, in my opinion, and
neglecting their legal duties.
When the Board approves a TIRZ agreement with one business and offers to
help them get around Federal requirements by seeking an exemption as they did in September
and then when questioned by a citizen are unable to stipulate when and where the public
discussion on the matter occurred before the supposed “informed” vote was taken, the
Board, in my opinion is not following their own Board policy which states that “When a
proposal is presented to the Board, a discussion shall be held and a decision reached.”
(BBE-LOCAL) The Public has a right to know about and hear and see what the thought process
is for the Board members as they make decisions.
One can understand the necessity of the Superintendent seeking legal
counsel on the TIRZ matter. That is common practice, but never should the Board
become a bunch of rubber stamps at the Superintendent’s whim without ever uttering one
single word of discourse in a public meeting. Even if they just come out in Open Session
and pontificate and posture, the public is entitled to at least that.
Parents, taxpayers, and freedom loving citizens need to pay attention to
the actions of these Board members. They are dysfunctional because they have
abdicated control of our schools to the hired hands and committees. They are not
representing us adequately, and they either need to change their behavior or resign.
They certainly should not be re-elected when the time comes.