March 15, 2021

Board Digest

March 15, 2021

 

Following each board of education meeting, the Director of Communications recaps the board meeting in the Board Digest. To view the full agenda, click here.

Learning Without Limits

Kansas State FCCLA President - Rene Cabrera
Rene Cabrera
Congratulations to Rene Cabrera who was selected as the Kansas State FCCLA President. Rene is our fourth state officer in the last four years from Seaman High School.

President Remarks

Tonight, you will hear a proposed process for how the board of education will work through the district namesake issue. It has been made clear that our school community would like to be a part of a process that will allow for input in a methodical, structured, and intentional way. The board has received countless demands to both change the name and not change the name. I hope you consider the next possible step to move the conversation forward is on the process we will utilize, not the outcome. To put it another way, tonight’s board meeting is the first opportunity for all seven board members to discuss this issue in a public meeting and there is no planned action tonight. Following tonight’s board meeting, if consensus of the board is achieved, I will be instructing Dr. Noble to create an advisory group that will be led by the Kansas Leadership Center to facilitate the community discussion to ensure all stakeholders have an opportunity to be heard and ultimately brought back for the board of education to take action. To be clear, the advisory group nor KLC will provide a recommendation, but rather help facilitate the process. This process could take some time, but it is important to allow everyone who chooses to express their opinion to have the opportunity to do so in a systematic and organized way. Our goals with the process you will hear tonight are as follows.
  1. We want to do this right, without question – some form of this conversation is happening all over the country and we have an opportunity to be a model for all those watching our district.
  2. We want a lot of input through a healthy process of engagement, and
  3. We want to establish a process to strengthen the community, not divide. Going through tough issues can make you weaker, our hope is that it makes us stronger.
As for the issues regarding inclusion and equity, we have begun this work already and our administration is doing a remarkable job keeping those conversations going with our students to ensure their voices are captured and issues identified are converted to actionable change, this is the work of the district. The name change conversation, however, is the work of the board.

I encourage all of you that have chosen to provide public comment tonight to provide us your hopes and concerns that you have about the process. We have our own ideas, but we want the community’s input as well. I know this is a difficult subject and I have had concerns about putting this in front of the community until such time we could come back together and sit across the table from one another and truly listen to each other’s viewpoints, this is definitely not a conversation best had over Zoom, I regret this consideration was perceived as inaction. I’m excited to see my fellow board members after 126 days physically apart and I am confident we will do what is best for all students and the community.

James Adams
James Adams
USD 345 Board President

Board of Education Consent Agenda

The consent agenda contains items packaged into one agenda item. They are often routine and garner very little discussion. A full list of consent items can be found by visiting the BoardDocs website


Discussion Items 

  • District Namesake Process
  • R2R Update
  • Teaching and Learning Report
  • Curriculum Adoption Cycle
  • Special Services
  • Equity Council
  • Post Secondary Phone Call Update
  • Business and Finance 
  • CORE-5 First Reading

  • Action Items (approved)

    • Expiration of Elementary Early Release Fridays
    • Local Graduation Credit Exceptions
    • Bids: Shirley Construction with total cost of $784,451.00 to include all 3 alternatives
    • EOP Reunification Plan
    • Calendar Update: Move snow day make-up days from March 31 and April 28 to April 2 and April 5

    Next 345 Board of Education Meeting

    The next regularly scheduled board meeting will take place on April 19. It is scheduled to start at 6:00 pm. The Seaman USD #345 Board of Education will plan to meet at Seaman High School, 4850 NW Rochester Rd.


    Board of Education Agenda

    To review previous board of education agendas, click here.


    How Can I Watch a Previous Board of Education Meeting?

    The video from the meeting will be available by the Tuesday at noon following the meeting. The video can be viewed by clicking here.

     

    Seaman School District USD #345
    901 NW Lyman Rd | Topeka, KS 66608