Board Meeting Report - January 17, 2023
The Board of Education of Salt Lake City School District (the Board) held its latest public meeting on Tuesday, January 17, 2023. (In addition to reading this Board Report, you can view the entire meeting on the district’s YouTube channel.)
Open Meetings Review
The Board received training on the Utah Open and Public Meetings Act. The training covered several topics, including notification of meetings, meeting agenda requirements, electronic communications, emergency meetings, electronic meetings, and records of meetings. The training also reviewed requirements and procedures for holding closed meetings, when needed.
Board Member Committee Assignments
Board members reviewed the current list of committee assignments. The list includes the different committees Board members serve on, which Board members are assigned to each committee, and how often the committees meet. After reviewing the list, Board members had some questions about their role on city Redevelopment Agency committees. The interim superintendent and business administrator said they will find the needed information and provide it to the Board.
Board and Board Leadership Evaluation
The Board discussed ideas on how to establish a process for conducting annual evaluations of the Board and Board leadership. Board members commented that the Utah School Boards Association (USBA) has a tool to evaluate boards of education which can be customized to the needs of different districts. A representative of USBA will join the Board during one of its meetings in February, and district leadership will ask them to bring information about that evaluation tool.
Stakeholder Survey
The Board reviewed a draft copy of a stakeholder survey, which asks stakeholders questions about what issues are important to them in hiring a new superintendent. The survey will be sent to district stakeholders, including employees, parents, students (with parent approval), local leaders, and it will also be available on social media and the district website for community members. The Board did a comprehensive review of the survey content and questions and proposed ideas on how to make the survey available to anyone interested in participating.
The survey will be available starting this Friday (January 20, 2023) and will be open until January 31. District staff will then evaluate the results and be able to report the findings to the Board of Education in a public meeting in February.