Susanne+Prindall

EDACE 786- Facilitation for Results K-State University Spring 2010 Case Study Proposal  a) What group, organization, or community will you be working with? I am going to work with the Manhattan-Ogden USD 383 Board of Education and especially with the Meeting on January 20th 2010.  The 2009/2010 Board of Education consists of seven individuals. President Nancy Knopp, Vice President Susan Marshall and five additional Board members. Any registered voter living in the community can be part of the Board and run for election. The purpose of the Board is to discuss and establish school policies, maintenance of facilities, budgeting matters and more.  b) What are the core issues? The meeting is broken up in three parts- executive session, working group session and regular business meeting. All Board of Education meetings are open meetings, by Kansas law, with the exception of the Executive Session.  Main focus of the working group session is the new West Campus High School renovation plan. The “Facilities Master Plan” for all school renovations in the district from August 2008 states an approximate budget of 42.2 Million Dollars for the West Campus High School and Bishop Stadium. The major improvement items are listed in this report. A total of 97.5 Million Dollars for the complete Improvements Plan for all schools in the district got approved by the Board of Education on June 11th 2008. Gould Evans architects started working with this project in June 2009. In September 2009 they began designing the school construction. Besides 14 additional classrooms the new renovation plan includes multiple maintenance repairs and improvements. The estimated timeline for this project looks as follows: - Design: September 2009 - October 2010 <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">- <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Presentation to the Public: January 26th 2010 <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">- <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Board Approval of the Plan: February 3rd 2010 <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">- <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Permit Review: September – November 2010 <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">- <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Bid Project: October – November 2010 <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">- <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Award Contracts: November – December 2010 <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">- <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Construction: February 2011 – June 2013 <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">- <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Finished: August 2013 <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Several meetings with the architects, school officials, students and parents were conducted during the past couple of months. Reading through multiple notes of those public sessions and working group sessions I got an understanding why certain changes will happen. To identify the needs of the High School, there has been a lot of public input. Questions about the new improvements and renovation plan got answered and a comprehensive plan got developed. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">During the regular business meeting, the two main issues that are discussed are snow make-up days and budget cuts in the district. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Apparently the snow make-up days have been an ongoing issue in the district. The problem is that this school year students are already missing four days because of bad weather. Kansas state law grants two missing snow days per school year. Another two days are marked in the school calendar as inclement weather make-up days. Those days are marked down on the day after Memorial Day and the other one at the end of the school year. Concerns have been raised that the students wouldn’t show up for those extra days. Recommendation from the Board is to stay at school for an extra 12 minutes each day. That would make sure that school still ends on May 28th and no extra days would need to be added to the existing calendar. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Budget cutting for the upcoming school year is another important talking point during the meeting. According to school board officials and the Government most of the school districts in the country have the same issues when it comes to budgeting. Everyone has to make tremendous cuts in their spending. Board members from all over the country, attending the National School Boards Association's legislative conference, said they were considering rolling back benefits to school employees, reducing staff and limiting tutoring and extracurricular activities available to students. This is and has been an ongoing and growing issue that is similar in other places. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Of course there are other things on the agenda for this meeting I will include in my case study but the issues explained above are the core issues of this session. The general agenda of USD 383 Board of Education meetings looks as follows: <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">1.0 <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Pledge of Allegiance <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">2.0 <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Roll Call <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">3.0 <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Adoption of Agenda <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">4.0 <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Recognition of Visitors <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">5.0 <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Consent Agenda <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">6.0 <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Reports <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">6.1 <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Spoken <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">6.2 <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Written <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">7.0 <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Old Business <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">8.0 <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">New Business <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">9.0 <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Next Meeting Possible Items <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">10.0 <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Future Agenda Items <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">11.0 <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Future Agenda Items Delegated to Committee <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">12.0 <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Announcements <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">13.0 <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Executive Session <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The copy of the current agenda, previous minutes and background material can be found online on the USD 383 website. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">c) <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Describe the setting <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The public meeting is conducted at the Robinson Education Center in Manhattan, KS. Meeting begin is at 5:15 with an Executive Session. The President opens the meeting in the Kirmser Conference Room and then retires to another conference room. Around 5:40 the Board members will return to open session for the working session with the Gould-Evans architects to hear information about the upcoming High School construction program. This part of the meeting is open to the public but it is solely informational, with no action taken. The regular portion of the meeting begins at 6:30. During the regular business meeting all action items take place. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">For citizen comments during the meeting participants are required to fill out a “Citizen Comments” form that is provided for download online. Copies are also provided for each participant in the conference room during the meeting. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">My actual case study about the Board of Education Meeting from January 20th 2010 will include more detailed information and a thorough description of the setting. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The stakeholders and participants of this meeting are teachers, students, parents, school officials and citizens of the district. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">d) <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Describe where you will be getting your documentation <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">A lot of information on the Manhattan-Ogden USD 383 Board of Education meeting can be found online. Previous agendas are available for download and it is also possible to request old minutes from past years. Besides that a copy of all meetings is available for purchase on a CD. During the open session of each meeting the local TV station is on site so citizens and who can’t attend the meeting in person can follow the meeting from home. I have found a couple of newspaper articles about the meetings and outcomes and read through all old meeting notes about the upcoming West Campus High School renovation. An additional, very helpful document is a copy of the renovation plan from Gould-Evans architects. Looking at old minutes, the “Facilities Master Plan” (August 2008) and notes from the B3C District meetings help a lot to get a better understanding about the core issues and helped me preparing for the meeting on January 20th. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I have also talked to the Clerk of the Board, Helen Petrik, and I have the possibility to obtain more background information and other information I might need for my case study. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">e) <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Describe what you hope to learn <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">I hope to become clearer about what it means to facilitate a public meeting. There is a lot you have to know in advance before you set up a forum and knowing what is entailed in the whole process will help me out a lot in my future career as an educator. Observing a public forum is a great way to pay attention to the details in the process. Since this is new to me I think it will help me to understand what to expect when setting up a public forum and what to focus on before and during the session.
 * <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Susanne Prindall **