July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Board deserves praise for serious debate (12/02/05)
Editorial
As usual, there were a couple of high school government students on hand for this week’s meeting of the Jay School Board.
They’d be forgiven if they left a little early. After all, the meeting spanned nearly three hours and was perilously close to overlapping with the kick-off of the Indianapolis Colts-Pittsburgh Steelers game.
But if anyone did leave early, they missed a powerfully moving moment in small government democracy.
It came with the final item on the agenda when board member Greg Wellman raised concerns about elementary classes with 30 or more students. He was joined by board member Mike Masters and board president Doug Inman, who tried to hammer out a compromise proposal that would have put additional aides in the classrooms next semester without blowing a hole in the budget.
The proposal failed on a 3-4 vote, with board members Frank Vormohr, Bryan Alexander, Jay Halstead, and Mike Shannon voting no.
But what was remarkable to witness was the sincerity and the thoughtfulness of the discussion by the board.
Wellman’s original concerns came directly from the classroom and centered on educational effectiveness. Masters focused on the teaching process.
Yet those who ultimately voted against the proposal were focused on the kids as well. The cuts the board has had to make over the past several years have been personally painful for them.
They clearly were struggling with the challenge of balancing educational issues with fiscal concerns.
To those who wonder at times about the process of school governance, it was a reassuring moment.
Everyone around the table was thinking about the students. They were also thinking about the teachers. And they were also thinking about the taxpayers.
Every constituency was on their minds.
You could argue in both directions about the final decision.
But there can be no argument about the seriousness, honesty, and integrity of the process. — J.R.[[In-content Ad]]
They’d be forgiven if they left a little early. After all, the meeting spanned nearly three hours and was perilously close to overlapping with the kick-off of the Indianapolis Colts-Pittsburgh Steelers game.
But if anyone did leave early, they missed a powerfully moving moment in small government democracy.
It came with the final item on the agenda when board member Greg Wellman raised concerns about elementary classes with 30 or more students. He was joined by board member Mike Masters and board president Doug Inman, who tried to hammer out a compromise proposal that would have put additional aides in the classrooms next semester without blowing a hole in the budget.
The proposal failed on a 3-4 vote, with board members Frank Vormohr, Bryan Alexander, Jay Halstead, and Mike Shannon voting no.
But what was remarkable to witness was the sincerity and the thoughtfulness of the discussion by the board.
Wellman’s original concerns came directly from the classroom and centered on educational effectiveness. Masters focused on the teaching process.
Yet those who ultimately voted against the proposal were focused on the kids as well. The cuts the board has had to make over the past several years have been personally painful for them.
They clearly were struggling with the challenge of balancing educational issues with fiscal concerns.
To those who wonder at times about the process of school governance, it was a reassuring moment.
Everyone around the table was thinking about the students. They were also thinking about the teachers. And they were also thinking about the taxpayers.
Every constituency was on their minds.
You could argue in both directions about the final decision.
But there can be no argument about the seriousness, honesty, and integrity of the process. — J.R.[[In-content Ad]]
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