RAYMOND — School board members debated a number of topics ranging from special education to the possibility of a statewide teachers’ contract as they prepared for the New Hampshire School Board Association’s 2009 assembly last weekend.
Locally, board members Gretchen Gott and Christina Vogel serve as delegates to the NHSBA, which is the overseeing body for all 160 school districts in the state. The annual meeting took place in Concord on Saturday, but earlier last week the Raymond School Board held a meeting to decide how its delegates should weigh in more than one dozen resolutions up for review.
Chief on the collective mind of the five local board members was the preservation of “local control,” a concept that refers to a district’s ability for self-governance without undue influence from state or federal officials. One resolution up for consideration came from the Bartlett School District, which asked the NHSBA and member boards to oppose a statewide teachers’ salary schedule.
The resolution, which stated in part that a statewide contract “is neither in the interests of the town nor the teachers who would be represented by a far-away dictator,” struck some board members as vague and having little basis. Chairman John Harmon noted that as far as he is aware, there is no proposal in the works for a statewide teacher pay scale.
Traditionally, teacher salary schedules have been worked out at the local level, and Harmon said he was under the impression that plans to change this format are “not even on the horizon yet.” The board opted unanimously to join the Bartlett district in opposition.
One of the most highly supported resolutions was a proposal to have special-education students tested at their actual reading performance level, not their grade level, and for those scores to be calculated into the averages for that particular reading level group. Proposed by the Alton School District, the supporting rationale claimed that “students develop reading skills at different times, not at prescribed paces,” and Superintendent Jean Richards said the change would “make the playing ground level.”
She added that the action intended by the resolution was actually permitted under the No Child Left Behind law until 2005. The board supported the proposal unanimously.
Later, a proposal from the Gorham-Randolph-Shelburne District to fund a study of the efficiency of the state’s school administrative unit system generated much concern about the loss of local control. The proposal suggests a “streamlined administrative structure” of fewer SAUs — there are currently about 80 in the state — could save money, but board members and Richards agreed that being in a bigger district would do little for Raymond’s students.
Richards said the proposal was likely prompted by changes in Maine, which is currently transitioning to a system of about 10 districts. Harmon said at one point about 25 years ago, Raymond had been part of a larger district that included Hooksett and Candia, but Raymond’s voters opted out in order to have more control as an independent one-town SAU.
Gott said some discussion about the impact of smaller SAUs is taking place among planners right now, but she prefers smaller SAUs because they avoid the hassles found in bigger administrative units. Richards added that most parents prefer “more response and support,” which is better achieved with smaller units. The board joined the NHSBA in recommending against the proposal.
On Monday, Vogel said that Gott was unable to attend the Jan. 17 conference due to illness, but ultimately the NHSBA members’ endorsements concurred with those of the Raymond board members at their Jan. 15 meeting. The controversial SAU streamlining study failed for lack of a motion, she said.
“The spirit of the day, pretty much, was to keep things at the local level,” she said. “I am pleased with the direction we gave the association …; and I think we have a shared set of ideals (with the NHSBA).”
Officials from the NHSBA said on Friday that the resolutions will not become laws immediately but will provide a basis for lobbying efforts at the state and federal levels.
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As we warned, local control is slowly being eroded as bureaucrats push for more centralization of the educational system.