Local Government Meeting Paper On January 23rd, 2014 I attended an Allentown School District board meeting at 7:30 pm. This meeting was just a regular board meeting instead of an education or financial meeting that they also have during the year. Since this meeting was the first board meeting I have attended, I didn’t really know what to expect. Would it be like a jury where members vote? Or would it just be a run through of how the year is going? Turns out that it’s a combination of both and it was interesting to watch. A summary of the meeting included roll call, remarks from both the superintendent and the board president. After the basic introduction the meeting continued with information updates that ranged from human relations to foundation for city schools, to the newest student representatives Abraham from Allen high school and Jamylee from Dieruff high school. It turns out that the student representatives are the newest additions to the board meetings, perhaps it’s for the students to have a voice and an ear to listen to what changes are being made. After the information ...
I had the pleasure of being able to shadow Superintendent Shirley Hall of the Maplewood School District. Ms. Hall took the reins of the district over in 2012 from a very popular superintendent who was credited with making great strides within the district. Although Ms. Hall had very large shoes to fill, she seems to be doing it with grace and enthusiasm. She credits the previous superintendent with making systemic changes and establishing the overall forward momentum of the district, but recognizes that she cannot rest on past success. Her goal is to take the district to the next level of educational excellence by focusing her and her administrative team's efforts on the P.E.L.P. coherence model from Harvard University.
Board of Regents (1967). The teacher’s interest as a citizen in making public comment must be balanced against the State’s interest in promoting the efficiency of its employees’ public services. The court found the statements of the appellant were substantially correct, regarded matters of public concern, and presented no questions of faculty discipline or harmony. The statements offered no proper basis for the school board’s action in dismissing the appellant (Oyez, n.d.).
At times, I noticed that the mayor would have probably been more attentive hearing from irate citizens than listen to Armenta trying to get clarifications to C-5. Unexciting as the council meeting agenda items might have been, it was still fascinating to see local government at work in such an orderly, proper fashion. We may disagree on particular ordinances or agenda items, but we will do so in an appropriate way that does not disrupt the city at large, and even though the topics of discussion were mostly mundane, students should still at one point or another witness their local governments at work. Doing so leads to a greater understanding for how day-to-day city improvements take affect and how important it can be to voice your opinion and be a leader within your community.
The Phoenix City Council meeting stood packed with attendees ranging from council men and women, lawyers, (basically elderly) interested citizens, neighborhood representatives, owners of businesses, and many others firm on playing a undeviating role in the due process of local government. The meeting began with an invocation from the pastor of a local church invited to pray by the Mayor Stanton. Then following was a pledge to the flag and then the mayor carries the motion. The Mayor reads for the council while passing them several agendas. This series of formalities set the tone for the arrangement and flow of the summit as a whole. Things steered quickly and professionally thanks to the succinct language of both the City Clerk and the Mayor, who led the agenda of the assembly. In general, each agenda entry was introduced by the Clerk, and then led through the agenda by Mayor, who asked for each item’s approval by the Council. The executive order of the agenda acted mostly as a general guideline, as the meeting swerved from the stated order with relative occurrence. Instead of a stringent order, the items seemed to be litigated first, in terms of how straightforwardly they might be permitted. Entire swathes of application were approved if the Council did not obtain any requests for dialogue concerning the item, and if the Council was expected to endorse the item unanimously. In theory, most of these items had already been hashed out in the various other committees through which any agenda item must pass before reaching the City Council.
The role of school boards “is to establish a vision for the community's schools that reflects a consensus of the board, community and district staff.” Although this is their main purpose, they also have to balance a district budget, create a district-yearly calendar, negotiate contract, construction, and approve district curriculum. (Stover 1) Although it might seem harsh to argue with school boards even though they do a lot, it is their job. They were appointed to lead and better the community, guide our children. If they are not mentally ready to be a leader, then why run for a school board member, the focus should be on the children, how to better education for them, and how to make sure they get the most out of every day coming to school.
By having school board meetings, it helps to see what the school’s needs. This is very important for the reason that this may be the only time that a concern parent or person voice might be heard. From this meeting, it was learned that the school board members are willing to help people that have concerns. An example, of this, was when the concern Pre-K parent was worried that she heard that Pre-K has been just a daycare. However, someone from the board mentioned to her that she would personally go with the parent the next day and show her how Pre-K is running during the day. This made the parent so happy because her concerns were being met. I have learned that school board members look out for the students and that they are the number one source that community members should go to if they have a concern or a suggestion to better their children’s
The Dahlonega City Hall was crowded on the evening of March 1st 2010. The seats were full, except for at the very front, and the standing room was filled almost out the door. The crowd, mostly made up of students, leaned in to hear as the voices of the City Council members faded in and out of the faltering sound system. The six City Council members and the mayor sat along a bench as if they were the judges at a hearing. Because of the ongoing discussions and the crowd, I thought I had arrived a few minutes late; but I was able to find a seat in the front two rows. Despite how packed the small room was there were plenty of empty seats in the front. I had thought the meeting was well on its way by the way conversation was going and apparently I was not the only one who shared this feeling. After a solid forty-five minutes of talking about parking laws and if there was a parking problem in the city, the mayor stood up and thanked everyone for coming. Most people took this as a sign that the meeting was over and started to pack up and leave. However this was just the meetings call to order. Following a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance the City Council meeting began.
Why would someone decide to go against school board decisions? By having symbolic protests, there would be less disruptions and less chaos. Usually what people think of when they hear protests is chaos, fire, and violence. Now if the students would’ve chose to have a protest with signs and chaos, that would’ve been a bigger problem. When the kids chose to go against the school board, they hurt themselves because when you go against adults in a school you could never win because they have the more power. If the kids wanted to be smart about the protest, they would’ve conducted it more silent and wouldn't even let the school board find out about it.
I went to the school board meeting on March 21, 2016 in Kanawha. The following people were at the council: Wayne Kronneman, Leah Deutsch, Ryan Hiscocks, Ryan Johnson, Jay Burgardt, Mona Buns, Gary Chizek, Todd Hammer, and Jon Harle. The others were mainly community member which included teachers, principals, parents and supporters. Some of the West Hancock staff included Mr. Peterson, Mrs. DeHart, Mrs. Bruns, Mr. Francis, Mrs. Gast and others. The other people who were there were parents and other community members. The first part of the meeting was the revision of the budget and presentation of the budget. This was given by Wayne Kronneman. He explained the budget of this year and how it compared to last years. Also he also talked about the budget for next year. After that they had a discussion with the
Good morning teachers, faculty, administrators, family, friends, and of course students. It is a great privilege to be standing here today and representing our class on our eighth grade Class Day. Can you believe it? Four years ago, most of us walked into this school as nervous as we were the first day of school. We were the tiny fifth graders, the youngest students in this middle school, not knowing where anything was and how to navigate the school. Now, those same four years later, we’re leaving this school behind to a whole new school being just as nervous as we were when we first arrived. It has been a long four years as well as a short four years. Long because of all the tests, quizzes, finals, and projects, but short because of the lifelong friendships, the lasting memories, and the truly interesting and amazing things we learned in-between. The Abington Heights Middle School is definitely a welcoming, fun, memorable, and great school that I will never forget. These four years spent with these wonderful classmates has been an extraordinary journey with many cherishable memories.
The superintendent and principal are stymied in their efforts to reach a compromise as Mrs. Durnitz refuses to change her position that the policy must be followed to the letter. She appealed to the teachers’ association for support when it appeared that the administration and board might not uphold her position. The local newspap...
Marina City Council Meetings occur every first and third Tuesday of the month, I attended one of the city’s council meetings on October 4, 2016. My intended government meeting was the Board of Directors Meeting for the Monterey Peninsula Management District on October 17, however, due to time restraints I resorted in attending the City Council Meeting in Marina. The meeting was held in Marina’s City Council Chambers that included a closed session at 5:30pm and an open session at 6:30 pm. The City Council was present in both closed and open sessions. The council included: Gail Morton, David Brown, City Manager Layne Long, Assistant City Attorney Robert Rathe, and Mayor/Chair Bruce Delgado. The Airport Commissioners, Marina Abrams B Non-Profit
Ravitch, Diane. Viteritti, Joseph.A new vision for city schools. Public Interest. (122): 3- 16. 1996 Winter
The discussion revolved around recognition. Ms. Ganz questioned if other students who contributed to the community service but were not recognized would be able to receive recognition, but the city clerk was somewhat short. While Mayor Shamberger is gentler and her voice is lower, the city clerk is very sure and less empathetic. The discussion was awkwardly closed, because the city clerk said “no” and the issue was resolved. Then, Mayor Shamberger declared that the meeting was moving into the public hearing
The meeting began when the school board members entered the large group instruction room and took their seats at a panel table angled to the side of the audience. The school board consists of nine elected members from the community. The members are as follows: Paul Ridley (President), Pat Vigliotta (Vice President), Helen Cumminskey (Secretary), Carla Manion ( Asst. Secretary), Timothy Bean (Treasurer), David Feely (Board Member), Keith Hatch (Board Member), Shane Oschman (Board Member), and Joseph Troutman (Board Member). Three members of the board were missing; however because of where the seats were located I could not see who was missing. Also, the member did not introduce themselves and left before people could address them.