[CALIBK12] Board Meeting Dress and Actions

[Susan Martimo]

As a former school board member I suggest that the people who are speaking dress somewhat professionally. People who support you may wear t-shirts or buttons or have something to identify them as supporters, or you can ask every person in the audience who supports the speaker to stand and show the strength of the support in the audience. It's important to be respectful and polite, though I know at times it's hard, but you want the members of the board on your side and catcalls, rolling of eyes, shouts, threats, etc. don't endear you or your position to the board.

When I was on a board and the Superintendent wanted to cut back on the middle school librarians to make them 1/2 time, one of the librarians got every teacher in her school to sign a petition urging the board to keep the positions full time. She recruited 5 teachers to speak, each talked about a different aspect of the role of the librarian in a succinct and direct way, giving examples of how the librarian worked with the classroom teachers. This wasn't just a plea to emotion, but a real instructional experience to let the board know what the librarian did and the contribution she made to the success of the students. They spoke for her so she wasn't defending her own position. At that meeting the positions were not cut, though that did happen at a later date. That can also work for library technicians who control access to thousands of dollars worth of materials. Speak to their role and value they provide to the school and district.

Good luck,
Susan Martimo
(formerly on the Morgan Hill Unified School District board)

From: calibk12-bounces at lists.sjsu.edu [mailto:calibk12-bounces at lists.sjsu.edu] On Behalf Of Marie Slim
Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2009 9:57 AM
To: Calib
Subject: [CALIBK12] Board Meeting Dress and Actions

Hi All!  I know I've been on the list a lot lately - please forgive my constant queries.

In terms of going to a Board Meeting, should we dress professionally with big buttons or with t-shirts with big messages?  Should we use pink t-shirts if we go that route?  Or black?

Our full-time library technicians are on the chopping block (again).  This time the district says it is a done deal.

If you are able to attend our Board Meeting Tuesday, May 5th we'd love to have you!

Fullerton Joint Union High School District Education Center Board Room
1051 W. Bastanchury
Fullerton, CA 92833
7:30pm, Tuesday May 5th
Marie Slim
Teacher-Librarian
Troy High School
2200 Dorothy Lane
Fullerton, CA 92831
Library hours: M - Th 6:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Fridays 6:30am to 3:30 p.m.
phone: 714-626-4482
fax: 714-626-4485
http://www.ilovelibraries.com<http://www.ilovelibraries.com/>
http://slimlibrary.blogspot.com/
SraSlim at sbcglobal.net<mailto:SraSlim at sbcglobal.net>

"This is the age of the open-source encyclopedia.  Words like 'research' and 'corroborated' now mean whatever the majority says they mean.  Personally, I'm voting for 'research' to mean 'speculation' and 'corroborated' to mean 'a zesty sour cream-based dip.'"

- Steven Colbert, I Am America (And So Can You!)


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