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As Chair of the MESD Board of Directors for 2012-13, I am pleased to provide this report to staff. To improve communication and understanding of the Board, we will make this a regular monthly feature of "MESD All Access." I hope you can take a few minutes to catch up on the Board's activities since July, 2012.
It is both a priviledge and a challenge to serve as chair this year. My colleagues on the Board and I are committed to supporting the outstanding work of our staff. We will also be proactive in policy and partnership development.
One big change this year is that our regular 3rd Tuesday Board meetings will begin at 5:30 p.m. rather than 7 p.m. We hope this will enable more staff and stakeholders to attend meetings.
On behalf of the Board, I want to welcome everyone to a new school year and express our appreciation for your dedication and commitment to children, families and schools. |
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New officers:
Printing and Graphics:
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The board received and discussed a letter signed and submitted by every member of the staff of the print shop concluding that achievement of fiscal self-sufficiency was not feasible within a 6-month time frame offered in June by the Superintendent. The letter proposed closing the print shop at the end of July.
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During its annual budget planning during the Winter and Spring, for financial reasons, the board adopted a 2012-2013 budget that substantially reduces agency capacity to conduct printing and graphics work in-house. Needless to say, this decision was controversial for MESD and painful for the dedicated and talented print shop staff. The board heard and considered a number of cost analyses. All of the analyses projected that the totality of print shop activities would not generate enough revenue to cover all anticipated expenses, though some of the more favorable projections approached cost neutrality. The board heard from many sources about the consistently high-quality work completed by the print shop over many years of service, and the dedication and skill of the staff.
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During the discussions, print shop staff and others had suggested that assumption of a more entrepreneurial approach by the MESD towards its print shop might lead eventually to fiscal self sustainment. This eventually culminated in the discussions about putting the entrepreneurial model into use. Unfortunately, the staff didn't feel that substantial strides towards cost neutrality were feasible within the 6-month window.
The board met for its semi-annual retreat on August 6 in the boardroom at the Ainsworth Administrative Building. Some highlights follow. (Further details can be gleaned from the meeting minutes which are posted online prior to each regular meeting.)
Time of Board Meetings:
Beginning in September, the board will convene regular meetings at 5:30. This is an attempt to achieve earlier adjournment. The board discussed holding some regular meetings during regular business hours but rejected this in order to make meetings accessible to staff and working public.
Board Liaisons:
The Board will continue its recent past practice of assigning a board member to be a liaison to individual MESD programs. Current assignments are available in the meeting minutes.
Agency Relationships:
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The Board discussed a series of topics related to agency relationships. Most notably, several participants acknowledged upheaval during the past year resulting from budget constraints, a change in leadership and legislative changes to MESD operations.
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Much of this discussion centered on soliciting opinions from partners and taking that information into consideration when creating policy and strategic planning. Several participants remarked they were apprehensive about requesting new information without clearly addressing information collected previously and communicating the response widely.
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Relatively low response rates to recent agency-wide surveys was acknowledged and alternative approaches such as focus groups and a "360 degree Google survey" conducted within supervisory groups were pondered. As a result of this discussion, Chair Schafer agreed to work with Superintendent Jorgensen on communicationa to staff summarizing recent input from partners and related strategic planning and a timeline for future partner input.
Strategic Planning:
- Superintendent Jorgensen led a discussion of agency strategic planning processes. The framework she presented included timeline, service model development, cabinet planning, board planning and staff planning.
- The process includes analysis of the types of services MESD will offer (Local Service Plan) and the "model of service delivery" (Resolution Menu, Transit, Core and/or Contracting). Already underway are joint cabinet meetings with each component district, continuing through September. This is an opportunity for MESD Cabinet directors to hear first-hand about services likely to be needed and the overall perception of the quality and breadth of services MESD provides to each district. Then, MESD Cabinet will draft a proposed service model. Component district superintendents will review this draft at their retreat in October.
- An approved service model is due to the MESD from the component districts at the beginning of November. Cabinet planning exercises start on August 13. Board planning activities begin with today's discussions, continue with the work of the Agency Goals Committee and extend through the January Board retreat.
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The board held a brief business meeting immediately after the retreat on August 6th. It heard from Directors Doug Montgomery and Kevin Spellman about the recent Oregon School Board Association Summer Conference, which they had both attended. In particular, as is the case for other governmental agencies, educational organizations continue to struggle to sustain services amidst declining state support and rapidly increasing public employee retirement system (PERS) costs.
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MESD expects to absorb a 5% payroll increase due to rising PERS expenses beginning in June of 2013. Director Spellman reported that some reports suggest this topic will be taken up by the legislature during its 2013 session.
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The board briefly discussed plans for the MESD charitable foundation, known as E2 ("Educate and Enrich"). Our foundation has been in existence since the 1990s. In recent years, the majority of donations have been directed toward Outdoor School. During the past year, an independent group formed a charitable foundation known as Friends of Outdoor Schools, whose members conduct fund-raising efforts that singularly support Outdoor School Participation.
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After several recent meetings, the MESD Board arrived at a consensus that it would like to continue to sustain the E2 Foundation and reinvigorate fundraising for other focus areas such as early childhood, alternative education, and special education. Directors Hollands, Schafer, and Ainsworth will comprise a committee charged with developing new governance, considering a new name for the foundation, recruiting and convening a new board, and clarifying the strategic relationship between the E2 foundation, the MESD Board of Directors, and Friends of Outdoor Schools.
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