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School Board Meeting

Richard Tapia
College of Southern Nevada
EDU 210
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The school board meeting that I watched virtually was the board meeting on April 17th,

2017. The meaning of a school board meeting is to act through its adopted policies. The policies

also spell out how a school district will operate. Policies impact virtually every aspect of district

operations such as employment of staff, administration of pupil services, curricular requirements,

student discipline, school facilities, equipment, transportation, finance, and support services.

School board policies guide the everyday actions of administrators, teachers, staff, and even

students.

The beginning of the meeting started off with public speakers. Most of the public

speakers spoke with outrage. Most of them were not pleased or impressed by the job that the

school board does. Complaints that were mentioned varied. One complaint was about not having

enough jobs available. It was also mentioned that support staff jobs were being cut. One

gentlemen suggested that the board only cares about themselves and others at the same level.

One thing that every person who went up on the stand had in common, was the comment about

the budget issues. One comment stated that the money in the budget is going to things that don’t

matter. The president dismissed this comment due to the lack of evidence or as she stated,

“proper facts.” Speaking about the president, it seemed as if she was not engaged in the meeting.

She rushed everyone that had the opportunity to speak. She told one lady and I quote, “I hope

with all of my being that you don’t go the full ten minutes.” It just seemed as if she didn’t really

care to hear what the speakers had to say. If she takes ten minutes, then she takes ten minutes. It

is your job to sit there and listen. The president also complained about hoping not to be there

until 2am. It was disappointing to see. The Vice President Dr. Linda E. Young, was much more

engaged and listed carefully to everything everyone had to say.

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First issue was Expulsions (Pg. 173 Ch. 9). Dr. Linda E. Young stated that minorities

have a higher expulsion rate and more likely to attend behavior school. This can be fixed with

the proper teachers. Young mentioned how important it is for a teacher to provide a connection

with the student in order to inspire them in being good students and just good people overall.

Issue number 2 was focused on Identifying Child Abuse and Neglect (Pg. 82 Ch.5).

Young explained the importance of being there for the students in this way. She mentioned how

most students who get expelled or attend behavior school are abused and neglected. So it is very

crucial to pay attention to the students so we can prevent them from leading their way to

behavior school or any other tragedies. This also connected to an issue that was mentioned in the

text: Duty (ch.6 Pg 100). This cover the duty to hire the proper teachers that will get the job

done and also the duty to adequate supervision. It also was covered in Terms of the Contract:

Duties and Responsibilities (ch.2 pg.35).

The main issue that was brought up was Budgeting. This issue was taken care of with

Powers and Organization of The Courts (Pg.13 Chapter 1). Budgeting seemed to be the

source of every problem and is an on going problem. I do feel that the court is helming this issue

correctly. The courts have 3 basic functions which are to settle disputes between parties, interpret

laws and policies, and determine the constitutionality of governmental actions. The board

handled all comments about budgeting very nicely although the President did seem to be very

stressed.

The final issue that was mentioned, was Reduction In Force (Ch.2 Pg 38). Financial

cutbacks have resulted in a reduction in the number of employees needed by a school district.

Many of the comments from public speakers had something to say about this. They believe that
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there isn’t enough jobs out there. This all comes back budgeting which I feel was always brought

up, even other meetings (I took a look at the other meetings as well).
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References

School Law for Teachers: Concepts and Applications, Julie Underwood and L. Dean
Webb. ISBN 0-13-119242-6