Making Policy Advisory Changes available to the Public

At last night's school board meeting, there was a brief discussion as to the merits of making policy advisory changes available to the public. This discussion came about because I had asked Mr. Hancock to provide public copies of the changes to Advisory No. 69 and No. 70 that were referenced in the school board agenda. He said that it was a board decision, not his, as to whether or not this information would be made public. Since the information was not made available at last night's meeting, I have sent the following letter to all school board members, with a copy to Mr. Hancock.

Dear School Board Members,

At last night's board meeting, Mr. Hancock notified you that someone was interested in getting copies of the policy advisories that were being considered. That person was me, and I have forwarded to you a copy of that email below.

It seems to me that proposed policy changes are entirely appropriate for public dissemination. How else is the public supposed to know what the policy says and what changes are being proposed? Not making this information public is not exactly fostering open communications, nor is it allowing the public to offer any opinion as to the proposed changes.

I understand that most of these changes are suggested by legal staff at PED, and that most of these changes are considered to keep policy in step with current law. Since these changes are considered as action items on the board agenda, providing a marked-up copy to the public as well as the board is the best way to keep ALL interested parties informed.

Since I'm no fan of wasting paper and ink, it would be really cool if the school would post the mark-up on its web site!

Thank you for your consideration of this matter.

Margo Whitt

Begin forwarded message:

From: Margo Whitt <johnandmargo@pvtnetworks.net>

Date: March 8, 2010 3:21:44 PM MST

To: Tommy Hancock <thancock@cmsbears.org>

Subject: copies of policy advisories

Hi Tommy,

Would it be possible for ya'll to provide a couple of copies of the policy advisories that the board will be considering at tonight's meeting? I plan on attending and am interested in what is being considered.

Thank you
Margo