Improving Communication and Providing Transparency in Decision Making

By Melissa Gilbert

We also understand that children and families within each school community come to the table with a variety of backgrounds and opinions. In order to have access to opinions that may not be majority ones, as school directors we will work to provide a wide range of opportunities for parents to contribute information to inform our decision-making. One way to do this is to provide maximal opportunity for parents to be members of committees and work groups.

As School Directors and public servants, we believe that it is the board's responsibility to respond respectfully to all individuals who pose questions at public meetings, even if board members disagree with the questions being asked. We believe that responding negatively to questions gives the impression that there is something to hide. Instead, we feel that questions from the public can be viewed as an opportunity to share information.