UPDATED, 6/21
Don't miss the reader comments at the bottom of this post. Ms. Reith, District Communications Director responds to a reader's comments.
"Lake Washington School District Budget Review Process up in the air."
Budget Meeting is planned for August 8 but it's not posted on the website per district process.Please check the front page of the District website for updates.
Here's the news on the 2011-2012 Budget Review Process for Lake Washington School District. I'll post any updates I hear about, but please check the front page of the district website . It's the BOARD'S only method of noticing, other than newspapers and select online media. RNB is the only media posting these budget meeting notices at this time.
The Administration's "First Reading of the Budget" on 6/20 and Notice of HEARING still aren't published on the District site or announced on the front website page and summer recess is on June 22. Very few parents will be going to the webite in August! The Budget meeting(s) and the Hearing times are verified once they're published on the district website, providing the dates don't change.
I've got three sources of Budget Meeting information from the District summarized, as follows:
- Pres. Pendergrass -- 6.20.11- Budget Presentation to Board; August 8- Budget Approval (no times)
- Administration: District website (front page) - School Board Meetings - no mention of Budget
- Administration: Kathryn Reith - June 20 (First Reading of Budget), August 8-Public Hearing, 7pm
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Administration writes the Agenda; School Board President approves it
"from the desk of President Jackie Pendergrass on 6/1"....Administration writes the Agenda; School Board President approves it
Hi Bob, (read more) >>
Just to clarify - there will not be a Jun 27 meeting. The date should have been Jun 20. Please remove the Jun 27 date from your site. I had sent you the wrong date in my first email.
Details for public comment will be posted and advertised after the Jun 20 presentation of the budget. [Public comment will be taken on Jun 20 and Aug 8, per district website]
Thanks,
Jackie Pendergrass, 6/1
President
LWSD Board of Directors
"from the desk of Pres. Jackie Pendergrass on 5/31"...
Bob,
I would like to clarify at this time the following [budget review process]:
There has not been a district budget for 2011-12 presented to the Board. The District is currently working on the details. As you know, the state just finalized their budget.
[June 20] is the date scheduled to present the budget to the Board.
The public will have from [June 20] until August 8 when final approval takes place to send their comments, questions etc to the district and/or board. They [the public] may call, write or email.
In addition, there will be an opportunity on Aug 8 to speak to the Board.
Jackie Pendergrass, 5/31
President
LWSD Board of Directors
5/31/2011
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According to a recent Governance Policy change and Administrative Policy, the website is the primary source for School Board meeting information.
According to a recent Governance Policy change and Administrative Policy, the website is the primary source for School Board meeting information.
Upcoming Events (on front page of website)
06.06.2011 School Board Linkage:
7:30 p.m. at the Resource Center
7:30 p.m. at the Resource Center
06.06.2011 School Board Meeting*:
5 p.m. at the Resource Center
5 p.m. at the Resource Center
06.20.2011 School Board Work Session:
5 p.m. at the Resource Center
5 p.m. at the Resource Center
06.20.2011 School Board Meeting*: [FIRST READING of Budget not announced]
7 p.m. at the Resource Center
Comments welcome
7 p.m. at the Resource Center
Comments welcome
06.22.2011 Half Day: Last Day Of School
Wednesday, June 22
08.08.2011 School Board Work Session:
5 p.m. at the Resource Center
Wednesday, June 22
08.08.2011 School Board Work Session:
5 p.m. at the Resource Center
08.08.2011 School Board Meeting* [BUDGET HEARING not announced]
7 p.m. at the Resource Center
Comments welcome
School board meetings are subject to change. (They changed over 11 times in the last two school years). Re-scheduled meetings and other meeting changes are posted on the District website. An annual budget Hearing is required by State law. Hearings require newspaper notices; newspapers and select online news outlets are sent "meeting notices".
7 p.m. at the Resource Center
Comments welcome
School board meetings are subject to change. (They changed over 11 times in the last two school years). Re-scheduled meetings and other meeting changes are posted on the District website. An annual budget Hearing is required by State law. Hearings require newspaper notices; newspapers and select online news outlets are sent "meeting notices".
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"The first reading of the LWSD budget will be...on June 20 at 7 p.m.. The public hearing on the LWSD budget will be at the August 8 meeting, a 7 p.m. meeting." - Kathryn Reith, 5/26
--As of 5/31, the front page http://www.lwsd.org/ indicates the public may comment* to the Board at these mtgs.
If you have any questions, please contact the school board here. Bottom line: check into the website front page regularly for meeting updates.
(Anything with brackets [...] are my insertions for accuracy and clarity.)
Reported By Bob Yoder
Sources: District website, 6/1, 3:47pm
K. Reith, 5/26, 5/31, 6/1 (phone and email)
J. Pendergrass, 5/31, 6/1 (email)
C. Kimball, 5/31 (email)
updated: 6/2
LWSD voters recently passed bond measures for construction of new school buildings. One is a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) high school to be built out near the Alcot Elementary School on Hwy 202. My concern is about staffing the new STEM school. Is there funding in the state's budget to hire teachers?
ReplyDelete60 Minutes recently reported a very similar dilemma in California public schools. A new high school is sitting empty/ unused because the state's budget is not able to hire teachers for the school.
Richard: Good question. The state provides the district with funds for teaching positions based on the number of students enrolled. These students would otherwise be in one of our other high schools, two of which will be close to or at capacity when we move the ninth grade into them in the fall of 2012. So the teachers will move with the students to the new location in the STEM school. It definitely will not go unused.
ReplyDeleteFor those interested in board meetings and actions, we have added a newsletter that will notify subscribers whenever there is a change or addition on the board calendar/agenda/minutes page. Just go to the home page, www.lwsd.org, type in your e-mail address under "Sign Up for LWSD Newsletters" and press enter. One choice is the board update newsletter.
LWSD Communications Dir. Reith told me a citizen was "so confused" about how the district ran their meetings that they removed the requirement for 7pm meetings!
ReplyDeleteIf that wasn't enough, they no longer have to hold their meetings on the first and third Monday of the month. Meetings may be held on the second and fourth Monday of the month, too as long as it's posted on the website and select media is alerted.
Governence in this district is truly a work in progress!
Ms. Reith's newsletter service is definitely a step in the right direction. It's hard to find on their web page but kudos to the communications dept. on this action!
ReplyDeleteThe district website can change at will without Board approval. Their latest change was to post that "a 7pm meeting time is generally scheduled on the first meeting of the month when public comment is taken. Too bad they didn't say first Monday of the month like it was before.
Another problem has been the accuracy of the Minutes. When mistakes are made the Board never in my 3 years of coverage has been accountable for amending them even when a citizen calls in for a correction. I've seen quite a few errors and significant omissions that were ignored by a Board officer. FYI, Dianne Jenkins is the Board and Administrative Clerk responsible for recording and keeping the Record. djenkins@lwsd.org.
I think the Board and Sup. Kimball are being more attentive to the public's needs for accountability and trust. It's not an easy shift from S.O.P.