School Board Member Community Meetings

Board President, Cheryl Chow is now planning to hold regular community meetings. The first one, scheduled in April, was cancelled, I believe because Cheryl was traveling to Charleston and Philadelphia as part of the superintendent search.

Another one is scheduled for tonight, from 6 pm to 7 pm at the Tully's on Rainier Avenue (4400 Rainier Avenue S., corner of Rainier and Genesee). It looks like she is planning to have these meetings on the first Monday of the month.

Brita Butler-Wall, even though no longer Board President, continues her weekly drop-in office hours at the Honey Bear Bakery in Ravenna every Thursday morning from 8 am to 10 am.

And Sally Soriano continues to hold monthly community meetings on the second Friday of each month from 6 pm to 9 pm at the Meadowbrook Community Center.

These are great opportunities to talk about issues with School Board members and, in my experience, are more satisfying than testifying at School Board meetings because they present an opportunity for real dialogue.

Comments

Mary Bass also has community meetings although I don't see one listed for this month. She has consistently done this since she was elected.
Brita said…
Hello all,

My weekly office hours have been a great way to stay connected with a variety of people over the last 4 years. The bakery/bookstore is at NE 65th and 20th NE. I meet every Thurs. 8-10 am whenever school is in session.

Please note that I will be out of town this week, however. Hope to see you the following week.
Anonymous said…
As the champion of the nutrition policy, isn't a bit ironic that Brita has her office hours at a bakery most famous for its cinnamon rolls?
But the nutrition policy is for the kids, not adults :)
Charlie Mas said…
I wonder if this is not the only opportunity most people have to converse with the Board. The Board talks about wanting to have more dialog, more meaningful communication with the community. Director Flynn is particularly vocal about this, but I haven't seen any action from her in support of that talk.

I'm not aware of any opportunity people have to enter into conversations with the District staff. I wish THEY held office hours or did community meetings.

Perhaps a person could just call them up and ask for a meeting. But when you have a quote in the newspaper from a principal saying that not every parent can get a meeting with her, it makes the idea of asking for a meeting with the Chief Academic Officer or an Education Director seem totally unreasonable.
Brita said…
Hey, in four years there I have only eaten one cinnamon roll (it was very good).

But point well taken.
Anonymous said…
Adults are capable of making informed decisions, seeing the big picture, and understanding the consequences of poor eating habits. Kids are not. You can't make that connection between Brita having a meeting at Honey Bear, and kids deciding to drink Mountain Dew in school all day long. I hope anonymous at 7:41A was just joking, I couldn't tell from the post.

Anyway, Brita, I love Honey Bear, and I really appreciate that you take the time to have community meetings. Keep up the good work!!!
Anonymous said…
I was just joking, I could not help the ironic humour moment.

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