GOSHEN COUNTY – During a special board meeting and work session held on November 25 in the board room.

The meeting was called to order at 6 p.m. with Marcy Cates, business manager, Ryan Kramer, superintendent, Kevin Derby, director of curriculum, instruction and data management, new board members Kate Steinbock, Kelly Meeboer-Strampe, Tony Goulart and Valarie Lamb Sharp, re-elected board members Dylan Hager and Lena Moeller and current board members Wade Phipps and Chris Alexander were present. Current board member Sarah Chaires was absent.

After the Pledge of Allegiance, the meeting opened with approving the agenda and the administration of oath to the new and returning board members. 

The board moved on to accept the resignation of Susie Asa, Lingle-Ft. Laramie Elementary Special Education teacher effective November 30. 

Next, the board moved on to a work session training providing an orientation for the new members which included an introduction of members, a brief discussion on the vision and mission statement for the district as well as the timeline of the strategic plan. Kramer also spoke on round-table discussions and work sessions the board holds. 

“It is really hard. It is really hard to put it in black and white and then get nine people to agree to agree to it,” Moeller offered as advice. 

“I would agree to that. I remember when we wrote down what we kind of thought would be a vision statement and then, gosh, it was two or three meetings and, you know, no joke, one meeting we spent like 45 minutes and we only made it like five words,” Hager agreed.

“I would invite any of the board members, any other additional comments on the strategic plan, as you go through that process, it will be important for the board members to know and think about it, or anything you can think of,” Kramer said.

Kramer explained there is an open door policy for discussion.

Moving on, Kramer spoke to the new board members on key dates for the district. Noting contract renewals, budget deadlines and approval times and evaluation periods.

“In June and in October, we, as the board, we evaluate the superintendent, so we have an executive session, where we go into and discuss the specific standards around what the superintendent should accomplish,” Kramer explained. 

Moeller responded to fit inside the box was difficult and reviewing the superintendent’s contract more frequently was paramount to the district and the relationships within its stakeholders. 

“It’s just sometimes in education, I just shake my head because it’s cool, like, rigid and black and white, and you have to do it this way,” Moeller said. “I know that as a board, we all discussed that this isn’t working. Our role, as a board, is to set Mr. Kramer up for success, and we really were not doing that by putting four: I’m satisfy or one.”

Moeller explained the new processes of evaluation is a great asset to the board and Kramer. 

“First of all, I want to congratulate those of you who are new to the floor. I’m Marcy Cates. I’m the business manager of the district. I’ve been here since October 2008,” Cates explained. “This is my 17th year in the district.”

“The legislature each year depended upon past performance of different industries on assigning the external cost adjustments,” Cates explained. “It may be part of a recalibration year which I’ll talk about a little bit later. But it really is based upon what the industry is showing or past performance.” Kramer also spoke about the superintendent’s role and cover organizational items such as successes, challenges and opportunities. 

Orientation continued on to discuss the many committees within the board such as the policy committee, salary relations, the EWC BOCES and NEWBOCES. 

Next, Kramer moved on to reading from the leadership governance which included accepting decisions of a unanimous board, keeping confidential issues confidential and make every effort to provide integrity. 

A deep discussion continued for the new board members throughout the evening. The next regularly scheduled school board meeting will be held December 10 at 7 p.m. in the central administration office.