Kristin Miller

Dr. Van Osdel

EDU 522
27 October 2014

School Board Meeting Reflection

School board meetings represent the Manager component of the Educator as a
Developing Professional Curriculum Model (EDPCM). School boards plan and organize
effective learning environments for the entire student body of the district. School boards also
need to maintain a positive learning environment and also a positive climate to work in. Lastly,
school boards need to implement intervention strategies to best serve students with different
needs. All of these components were observed in the Harrisburg School Board and Sioux Fall
School Board meetings.
School board meetings are an example of Standard 3.0 of the ELCC Building Level
Standards. The school boards took into consideration the needs of the students while
monitoring available resources and operations. The school boards also focused on promoting the
welfare of the students of the district. Lastly, the school boards monitored the management of
the schools and hear good news reports from the schools.
After attending the Sioux Falls School District board meeting on September 22nd, I
decided that I needed to attend another school board meeting in a different district to be able to
evaluate the decision making process of a school board. The Sioux Falls board meeting was
rather quick and to the point. It seemed as if many decisions were made outside of the board
meeting and that the decisions were approved the night of the board meeting. Many of the items
on the agenda fell under a consent agenda and were approved together. The only focus on

curriculum during the meeting was when the board received an update of the new math
curriculum.
The Harrisburg School District board meeting was a contrast to the Sioux Falls meeting.
The Harrisburg School Board meeting had a different feel to it. The board members interacted
on a more casual level and talked about the families of the district. The agenda had many items
on it where I could analyze the decision making process of the board. The board approved
another food service position. The Board took a cautious approach to FTE at the beginning of
the year and analyzed their needs after the year had started to determine that another food
position was needed.
The Harrisburg District voters had recently passed a bond. Many of the decisions of the
meeting were based upon how to move forward. The superintendent of the Harrisburg School
District had a lot more input in the Harrisburg School Board meeting. The superintendent
updated the board on the results of the bond and the next steps to take. The superintendent
ranked the proprieties of the district and told the board what aspects of the proposed bond would
be carried out first. After the priority items are carried out, the district plans to assess the next
items on the list and make the final decision about the order to carry out the remaining items.
While at the meeting, I could tell that the board was thinking ahead about the growth and the
future needs of the district. Two curriculum-centered items on the bond were an alternate school
setting and a behavior program. The district realizes that as the district grows the needs of the
students have changed and they need to add more programs.
It appeared as if the district used the Six Steps to Ethical Decision Making process to
make their decisions. According to the Ethical Resource Center (2009), the six steps are define
the problem, identify available alternate solutions, evaluate alternatives, make the decision,

implement the decision, and evaluate the decision. Prior to the October 14th meeting, the district
did steps one through four. The fourth decision needed the approval of the constituents of the
district. Since the constituents approved the bond issue, the board was in the process of
implementing the decision. It seemed as if they used to process to also identify priority needs of
the district. I agree with the decision the Harrisburg School Board made and would have carried
them out the same way.

References
The Ethical Resource Center. (2009, May 29). PLUS: The decision making process. Retrieved
October 27, 2014, from http://www.ethics.org/resource/plus-decision-making-process