CHARLIE, help me out, "What does this mean?"
Lil' LORI says
What does bother me is the fact that according to MGL Ch.71 Section 36A, "School committee members, within 1 year after their initial election or appointment, shall complete at least 8 hours of orientation concerning the responsibilities of their office at no cost to individual school committee members. The orientation shall include but not be limited to a review of school finance, the open meeting law, public records law, conflict of interest law, special education law, collective bargaining, school leadership standards and evaluations and the roles and responsibilities of school committee members. The orientation shall be provided by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, Inc. or any other entity approved by the commissioner of education after consulting the association. The Association and any other entity providing such orientation shall offer every year at least 2 orientation sessions at no required cost to eligible school committees. A certificate shall be awarded to each participant upon completion of the orientation and notice thereof shall be filed with the clerk of the city or town where the school committee member resides" I was told by Mike Gilbert of the Massachusetts School Committee Association, that this law applies to those members who were elected after 2002. Therefore, I expect all our members who were elected after 2002 to have completed this orientaion and I have requested these public records expect a response by the 28th. If a member or members have not completed this required orientation, they should just admit it, complete it immediately, and move on! Although, I would be interested to know why they did not complete it.
Does this mean SOMEBODY has SKELETONS?
ROUND 1 goes to LIL' LORI on points!
WILL COVER CHARLIE ANSWER THE BELL FOR ROUND TWO?
I have not received the requested certificates yet, so I do not have any tangible evidence showing Charlie or any other member has not participated in this required orientation. Those I made the request to have until 1/28/13 to respond. I am not pursuing this issue as a challenge or game. I am pursuing it because our school committee members are involved at the highest level of local school governance. They are the ones overseeing and making decisions for our schools and district. The school committee has the power to select and to terminate the superintendent, they review and approve budgets for the schools in the district, and they are responsible for establishing educational goals and policies for the schools in the district consistent with the requirements of law and statewide goals and standards established by the board of education. If they are not following the state laws regarding their own position as a school committee member, how can we trust they are making sure our administrators and others are following the laws regarding public education? Furthermore, if our school committee members are not educated about these state goals, standards and requirements, how can they make knowledgeable decisions regarding our children, schools, and district!!
ReplyDeleteGood answer, good answer!
DeleteMaria Carrasscco has NOT done any orientation since being elected to her position. This came via her own campaign manager Joe Martin (Union President for custodians/janitors in LPS).
ReplyDeleteMaria Carrasco actually did complete the required orientation and I have a copy of her certificate as proof.
DeleteLori,you are very right and it is about time SC and LPS administration are held accountable.
ReplyDeleteWhile I completely agree that School Committee members should be trained in all those areas, it is doubtful that 8 hours of training will make them competent in any of these areas.
ReplyDeleteI agree 8 hours of training in limited areas is not enough, but they should follow the law and complete it. Also, I believe all our school committee members should reveiw their SC manuals so they are fully aware of what their roles and responsiblities actually are. I also think they should do reseach and educate themselves on issues that are brought to their attention, as well as issues that are discussed at the meetings. According to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, those I sent the request to have 10 calendar days to respond in writing. Today is the 10th day and I have not heard anything. If I do not hear anything by the end of the day, I will file an appeal tomorrow. I do know for a fact that Rick Starbard has completed it.
Delete