DMPS SB Meeting 01/08/08 - Part 2

Under Policy Governance as adopted by the Des Moines Public Schools School Board in 2007, there are several standing committees. These are: (1) Board Development which arranges for orientation of and training of new and existing board members, (2) Audit which specifies the scope of the annual audit and assesses independence of auditors, (3) Community Linkage which is charged with development of mechanisms and plans to link the board to the community , (4) Superintendent Compensation which provides annual recommendations for the superintendent’s compensation package, (5) Policy which pursues further development of the board’s governance structure, (6) Des Moines Teachers Retirement System (DMTRS) which is needed because the board serves as trustees for the retirement fund, and (7) Health Benefits Advisory which works with the DMEA and AFSCME unions on the matter of health benefits. In addition, ad hoc committees exist, such as the district sales tax oversight committee.

The Policy Governance document approved by the school board, and available for reading on the board’s web pages, states that these committees are all “advisory in nature and shall not be authorized to create or change [sic] policy.” In addition, the superintendent, or a staff member she designates, is to be included in each committee as a non-voting member. Many details of the committees, such as limitation on expenditures and on size and composition remain incomplete. This lack of structure has been a major contributor to much of the confusion exhibited during school board meetings.

Board President Dick Murphy appointed board members to committees in 2007. There have been some changes but neither the original nor the modified appointments are noted in an easily-retrieveable location. Apparently only the Community Linkage committee has community representation. How to choose members of the public to sit on the committee has been a discussion item at other board meetings and was raised again at the January 8, 2008, meeting. In addition, the number of public members was raised for the first time. After much back-and-forth board talk about who and how to appoint, but with no specifics offered, Murphy said the Board Development committee could make those decisions. He then asked for volunteers to the committee. Board Member Jon Narcisse said he would be on it. Board Member Connie Boesen then said there should be representation of board members with various years of experience. Consequently, she, too, volunteered to be on the Board Development committee.

Murphy said the sales tax oversight committee now has only two of its five members. The sales tax proposal that went before voters identifies which groups appoint members to this committee. Murphy said there was a notice placed in the Des Moines Register seeking public members but that he only had two responses. One of the people responding did not live in the district. Narcisse said that the City of Des Moines lists its various boards and commissions with public appointees on its web site and recommended the school board do the same.

Superintendent Dr. Nancy Sebring proposed that a procedural committee consisting of district staff be created. The purpose of this committee would be to monitor state laws and to prepare procedures required by those laws. This would be different from the Policy committee. The membership of the Policy committee is not defined in the Policy Governance document but has been noted in board meetings as consisting of the entire board.

Board Member Patty Link said that the Community Linkage committee meets once a month at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesdays. She serves on the committee along with board members Boesen and Ginny Strong.

During discussion of the external audit report, board members said they did not know who served on the Audit committee. Board Member Jeanette Woods said she served but that she missed the meeting where the auditor’s report was given. (Woods was absent during December board meetings due to the health of an immediate family member.) Narcisse said he attended the meeting but was not a member. Boesen complained that there was discussion of the audit on television before the board had received the report but she did not provide details. Narcisse responded that it is not unreasonable to discuss what happens at the committee meeting.

Board Member Teree Caldwell-Johnson suggested that further discussion be tabled until the next board meeting to allow time to prepare more concrete suggestions for how to include the public on standing and on ad hoc committees. The board approved that recommendation.

Note: When checking the school board’s web site for information related to this article, I noted that Dick Murphy is now being identified as the chair of the board and not as the president.

M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa and covers school board meetings for AroundDesMoines.com.