Committee endorses trial of 'committee‑of‑the‑whole' structure; language to be reworked

The Policy & Curriculum Committee discussed proposed revisions to Policy 005 that would move many topic areas into committees of the whole rather than maintain several separate standing committees.

Administration (S3) described the proposed structure—student achievement, finance/property operations, negotiations and committees of the whole for budget/finance and personnel—and noted examples from other districts. Several members (S4,S5) said they favor committees of the whole with designated chairs to keep continuity, while some members worried that combining items (for example, athletics and student services under one meeting) would leave insufficient time for substantive policy work.

S1 suggested testing the new structure under the district’s current one meeting per month, with the option to extend meeting times or add a second night if necessary. Committee members agreed to rework the policy language to emphasize named chairs, clarify advisory versus decision roles for committees of the whole, and return the revised draft to the board for consideration.