School Committee News

Post date: Jan 30, 2012 4:44:49 PM

SCHOOL COMMITTEE NEWS

January 27, 2012

Improving community engagement and citizen participation with our schools is the goal of the Communications Committee recently established by a unanimous vote of the Deer Isle-Stonington School Committee. The committee, chaired by school committee vice chair Linda Nelson, includes board members Mark Cormier and Ginny Olsen and superintendent Robert Webster.

This new committee has been assigned responsibility for addressing current and future educational issues in a variety of media/distribution channels to ensure the Deer Isle-Stonington public is well informed on, and engaged with, important topics impacting our local schools and students.

As a result of two initial meetings, a draft school district communications plan (available on the school websites http://www.dishs.org/  or  http://www.dises.org/ ) will be discussed and considered for school board approval. Important components of this plan include:

* the creation of greater and more consistent two-way communication between the school board and the community through the use of social media, online mini surveys, focused and regularly scheduled publications, and greater school board member visibility at school events

* more pro-active and in-depth communications on large issues such as student performance trends, school budget expectations, enrollment figures, administrative costs, and program priorities

* timely and in-depth discussions regarding proposed school changes (schedules, classes, curricula, etc.), and updates on results of these changes

* organizing and promoting opportunities for community participation in the schools

* coverage of local, state and national education news (teacher evaluation and contract trends, the DOE’s strategic plan for Maine education, etc.) within the context of our district, to help all school stakeholders better understand their impacts

The DI-S School Committee is committed to enlarging the opportunities for public access to school information as well as providing multiple ways for community members to interact with school board members and the schools. The best way for you to receive these opportunities and updates is to sign up for the parents or community email lists by contacting Bob Webster at su76.rwebster@gmail.com. We hope you’ll get involved. Help our schools become the #1 positive topic of conversation on the island.