[Amy Weir]

The current TASB policy updates that are on the agenda for Thursday include BDF (Local) in 114 there are updates, but in 115 TASB is recommending deleting this section, “BDF(LOCAL) BOARD INTERNAL ORGANIZATION: CITIZEN ADVISORY COMMITTEES Policy Service recommends that the administrative details regarding committees be removed from the local policy manual, as board-adopted policy is not required.”

I have copied the policy below. If you will remember from our earlier policy discussion that X by the policy means that it is unique to Round Rock ISD, not necessarily shared by other districts. Even though TASB is recommending it be deleted because it’s not required, RRISD has our own version that previous boards felt was important. The SHAC is separate and must follow state law that directly pertains to it. But I hate to get rid of this policy because we do have other committees and I think it’s important for those serving on the committees to know the parameters and for the community to be able to see the function, terms of service, composition, etc. I would like to discuss this on Thursday. I have a few suggestions for updating it into a more collaborative policy if we do keep it. I couldn’t get a red lined version in this format so I’ve put in parenthesis my suggestions. Any other suggestions or discussion prior to Thursday would be appreciated.

Round Rock ISD246909
BOARD INTERNAL ORGANIZATION
BDF CITIZEN ADVISORY COMMITTEES(LOCAL)
DATE ISSUED: 4/15/2016 ADOPTED:1of 1LDU 2016.03
BDF(LOCAL)-X

Committees of citizens may be appointed whenever the Board or (Replace or with “and” fix grammar of sentence that follows change) Superintendent determines that such groups may be helpful in determining District policies, practices or special issues. These committees may include District personnel and citizens. A citizen may not be an active member of more than one Board internal committee at the same time.

Each committee shall operate under a committee charter that clearly outlines the committee’s purpose, organization, objective, duties and responsibilities. Committees may transact business only within specific authority granted by the committee charter. Citizen committee charters may be found on the District’s website at https://roundrockisd.org/about-rrisd/citizens-committees/.

The Superintendent shall inform (remove inform, ADD “work with” then fix the grammar of this sentence) the Board of the establishment of any such committee and shall describe its proposed functions, size, term of service, membership composition, and relationship to members of the professional staff. (ADD “The Superintendent in consultation with the Board will decide the leadership of the committees.”)

The Board shall be kept informed regarding the findings and recommendations of such committees.

The chair of the committee, subject to the direction of the committee, shall determine the rules for committee meetings. All rules shall comply with applicable law and Robert’s Rules of Order.

[Anonymous]

Here are additional points to consider regarding community members and committees. Two committees that come to mind that had room for improvement were the 2018 Citizen Bond Committee and the recent Safety and Security Task Force. The terms “Committee” and “Task Force” need to be defined, including whether or not they’re “standing” or only as needed like the two mentioned above. The word Committee will be used below for both.
1) I agree with President Weir’s suggested wording about the appointment process for committee members, specifically adding the word “AND”: “…the Board AND Superintendent working together to select the members …” It’s critical for transparency that the members are not handpicked to justify the desired outcome. An over-used example is Covey’s “Start with the end in mind” to work backward to get the support to a pre-determined answer. It’s too easy to pick community members who will support what is desired then claim the process was community-driven.

2) Another change that’s needed is the ability to add or drop members on committees as needed. There have been committees that can’t make quorum because not enough members attend. As with many volunteer activities, there are good intentions of those who sign up, but then they realize the amount of time for meetings is too burdensome and beyond what they were expecting. It’s understandable because so much work is needed to read the extensive material related to committees. Related to low attendance of committee members is the opposite: community members who learn about a committee after it’s been formed then they start attending the meetings wanting to contribute but are denied because they didn’t sign up in advance or were not selected. There should be a way for anyone who has an interest in a committee to participate, maybe as an ex officio member initially.

3) It should be decided in advance whether the committee meetings will be broadcast for the public to review using an application like Facebook Live or RRISD’s video system. The drawback of broadcasting the committee meetings may hinder candid discussion among the members. However, the public has a right to know what’s being considered.

4) Community member names should be made public with a brief bio on their background, including expertise on the committee topic, history in the district, and anything else that would inform the public that there is fair representation among the members.

5) Leadership selection should be decided in advance either by both the Administration and the Board, or like a jury, selected by the committee members themselves.

[Author]

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