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Norwalk: Meeting Of The Minds Still A Good Thing


by turfgrrl


April 13th, 2008 · 2 Comments

Amanda Brown has figured out that if she wants to have influence over the BOE, she needs to have a seat at the table. The 2005-2007 attempted the joint meeting of the BET, BOE and council, but due to the mysterious vagaries of scheduling conflicts (Corda) they never got off the ground. So Brown figures on creating an ordinance to formulate a special joint committee.

Interesting idea. But with the balance of the BOE shifting back towards common sense with common purpose, the obstacles of the past may not be present. The Hour got qutoes from the usual suspects on the idea, the recap:

Mayor Moccia: I don’t know if that legitimately can be an ordinance, and I’ll to talk to Corporation (Counsel). They’ve had that committee in the past — they’ve formed it informally. If the committee wants that (fine). But I’m not sure what they mean by a ‘Board of Ed Committee by ordinance.

Greg Burnett: (At this point) it’s difficult to measure the value-add the committee could bring,” Burnett said. “In the interim, while this committee is being researched and how it should function, I think we all have open door policies in that Common Council members should attend Board of Ed meetings, and Board of Ed members should attend Common Council meetings, and feel free to ask questions in those forums.

Well Greg, it would help if BOE meetings weren’t scheduled for the same night as Common Council Meetings, and then maybe Council members could attend. Just a thought.

Jack Chiaramonte: The board and council often work as “two left feet. I don’t know what parameters they would go about, but I always feel the more public participation the better. It’s kind of nice if one body knows what the other is doing and vice-versa.

Fred Bondi: [In the past] it never got off the ground. We were supposed to meet with the Board of Education and discuss things and do stuff jointly, and it just never happened. If it will ever happen? It’s not a bad idea. It’s important that we try to do things together, because their budget is the largest part of the city’s budget.

Fred Wilms: The more communication there is, the better. A member of his board also be included in that communication.

The easiest thing to do, it would seem, is ask someone on the BOE to require Corda to attend these joint meetings, or initiate a resolution to make it happen. The city side is not the issue, and the state has consistently held that the BOE needs to be independent of the political process that governs municipalities.

In any event, how they get there is process, the idea that they should meet jointly throughout the year to discuss budgetary issues should be strongly supported by all. Shall I add a day four of good governance here? Yes.

source: The Hour, Council, school board seek to bolster lines of communication, by Robert Koch, April 13, 2008

Tags: Education · Norwalk

2 Responses so far ↓ “Norwalk: Meeting Of The Minds Still A Good Thing”



  • 1 Retired from DRG I // Apr 13, 2008 at 11:48 am

    I would love to see a flow chart of the local govt set up- as I do not believe that anyone understands who is where-
    Most people outside the boards probably feel the board of selectman are above the rest and others flow below- not so.
    There are checks on locally elected boards through monetary control and voters having change power at municipal elections, and probably more. I do not know the charter as I am not a towns-person. But I suspect that one elected board can not mandate another board’s formation of anything. Board of Ed policy book (about 5 inches thick I suspect) should describe how committees are formed and who may be on each.
    You could have a charter revision, perhaps. Board of Ed is blanketed with statutes from the state and an arm of the state board of ed- a “creature of the state” with members elected at the local level.

    BOE and Bds of Finance - if you have one - are mandated to meet a certain number of days prior to commencing teacher negotiations, and a member of BOF is invited to be a resource for the negotiating team (not a voting member).

    Chairs setting up joint meetings is one way to go, although using a non-prickly topic may be tough - to get all the players there and if you have a particularly prickly one- the meeting will not accomplish is purpose.

    Getting to know each other over a period of time other than budget crunch season and forming some sort of trust (when possible) in the judgment of a board is the best way to get things done.

    Finally, a member of a board, keeping the flow from moving your govt along will be found and voters may act to remove that cog in your wheels over the long term. Long term is hard to wait.

    Good luck to all of you!

  • 2 former PTA prez // Apr 14, 2008 at 12:08 pm

    Not sure if any committee can be formed by Council ordinance. An informal committee of all 3 boards could be useful IF the Board of Ed. decides to be accountable and transparent. This has been an ongoing problem for the 30 years I’ve been following the process. The relationsip was much improved by Superintendent Sloan, who was determined to improve relations after the Board of Ed lost their FOI complaint to the PTA Council in the 80’s. After Sloan departed, relations again deteriorated and have reached a new low under Corda’s arrogant leadership. A minority of the BOE are struggling mightily to restore staff accountability, but it’s a tough road to hoe without a majority of board members in agreement.

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