Bethany BOE Open Forum Draws Small Crowd But High Praise

More recess, less homework and a food plan ("It's not a food plan!") that works were only a few of the topics touched upon in the first Bethany School Board open forum held last night in the Bethany Community School library. About 20 parents and teachers congregated and asked a myriad of questions of board members and administrators.

Moderated by board member Chris Pittenger, the meeting was designed to help build lines of communication between the community and the school and hopefully, help eliminate some of the unfounded rumors that tend to make the rounds in such a small and tightly-knit community.

The board was questioned about class size, out-of-district teachers enrolling their own children in the school, the potential for teacher "merit pay" also known as "differentiated compensation"  dependent upon student performance, CMT scores, recess or lack-thereof, the volume of homework and, of course, how to protect children with food issues from having a reaction.

At the end of the evening, everyone seemed satisfied with the results.

"This is awesome, this is great," said parent Aimee Cotton Bogush. "This goes a long way towards building communication. We can address missed information or reactions to things that may or may not have occurred. I also think it's good to see the board and know that everyone on it has the best interests of the kids at heart."

Information technology teacher, Dorothy Seaton, agreed.

"I think it's great," Seaton said. "It helps to address the issues of parents and there's more of a give-and-take. It would be nice if at future forums we have an agenda of topics so people know what's coming, but this was a great start."

PTO President Chantal Hendricks was concerned things might get "ugly" but in the end, was very pleased. "I think everyone has a sense of relief that we got to talk about things," she said. "A lot of the people here have strong issues and it was helpful to let them vent."

While Pittenger had hoped for a larger crowd, he was still  happy with the way the way the evening unfolded.

"We haven't done this before," Pittenger said, "so I wasn't sure if anyone would show, and if they did, if it would become rancorous, but it was all framed in a respectful way. I thought it was very productive, and it was exactly what I had hoped for."

"If people are going to come and benefit from this," Pittenger said, "then we will do this again."

In the meanwhile, board members and administrators stressed, if there are ever any questions, all of them are available by phone or email.

There is no date set for the next BOE open forum, but Pittenger expects it will be in the spring.