An Inside Look at the Board of Education

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Board of Education members have a responsibility to the district it serves as well as the state. According to Mooney (2012) “board of education members have a dual status, serving both as town officers and serving as agents of the state to implement the educational interests of the state” (p. 23). This was evident as I glanced at the agenda of the meeting I attended on March 11, 2014. On the agenda were issues that represented the district/town such as, district highlights, a public session, report of the superintendent, and committee updates. Seven different policies ranging from student use of district computers, social media and use of private technology devices were on the agenda too. There were seven out of nine board members present, superintendent, associate superintendent, as well as a student representative.
It was apparent even before the meeting began there was a sense of energy in the room. “The meeting began with a song, “I Believe I Can Fly,” performed by members of the Unified Theater program hosted by the Middletown Recreation and Community Services. The group, which brings together children, ages 10-18 with and without disabilities” (Gecan, March 12, 2014) recently put on a performance in February. Parents, teachers, principals were in attendance to support the students. At this point I counted about ninety five people in attendance. After the students presented the attendance dropped down to seventy-five people.
Then the i-CARE (Intervening with Children At-Risk Early) support system at Bielfield Elementary School presented. The program funded by the CT Health Foundation is to identify, assess and intervene early with students who present behavioral and/or mental health issues. Teachers spoke of ...

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