School Board Hopes to Have Goals by January

The Mehlville School District Board of Education created a system to develop their goals for the 2011-2012 school year at Wednesday’s meeting.

The board was scheduled to set goals at the , and again in September, but delayed the topic until Wednesday’s meeting due to the length of meetings and other agenda items.

“I’m concerned about the message we’re sending to the community that it’s now going to be January, halfway through the school year, and we haven’t established goals yet, and as a member of the board, I’m as responsible as anybody,” board member Rich Franz said.

“I think we not only owe it to the community, but we owe them an explanation for why it's taken us this long to come up with the goals,” he said. 

Superintendent Eric Knost said the board has a high level of determination as well as expectations.

“Keep in mind, even though the vision points that were established are my goals, remember, those developed out of our retreat along with my vision, so it’s not like you’ve been sitting on your duff," Knost said. "It's clearly a collective effort… I still think it's appropriate to take the time to get it right.”

The board created a list of topics they’d like the goals to center on, which include subject areas of (in no order): facilities, strategic planning, board development and governance, technology and student achievement, highly-qualified staff with professional development, community engagement and fiscal responsibility.

Knost said he would send out the topics to the board members by email. Each member is then charged with listing three measuring points or goals for each topic.

Knost will then compile the responses into concrete goals, which are scheduled to be read, tweaked and approved at the January board meeting.

“If each one of us would just write three things we think are measurable under each one, I think the synthesis of all our different viewpoints might work,” Vice President Larry Felton suggested.

If the board disagrees within these topics, they will discuss the differences at the January meeting.

Board members Mark Stoner and Tom Diehl said the goals can and should last longer than the current school year. 

“I think the goals themselves need to be more of a long term perspective. I think if the board goes back and sets new goals every year, we’re going to be like a ping-pong ball bouncing across the table,” Stoner said. “I think probably the more appropriate perspective would be to review the goals to make sure that they still fit.”

The school board goals for the 2010-2011 school year read:

1. Enable students to achieve at the highest level possible
2. Enable staff to perform at the highest level possible
3. Promote community interest and participation in the life of the Mehlville School District
4. Serve as an advocate for public education at the local, state and national level
5. Ensure fiscal responsibility in the management of direct resources
6. Initiate the shared vision (COMPASS Plan) for the future of the Mehlville School District