Newsletter #2 - School Committee Message by Libby Michaud

School Committee Message by Libby Michaud

As a member of the School Committee since 2001 and a working mother of five grown children who attended the Scituate Public Schools, I appreciate the top-quality education Scituate is providing its students. However I can clearly see that the growth and changes in the town require vigilance to successfully manage our schools going forward. While Scituate is known as a top-performing school district, our on-going success will depend on the actions we take now.

Developed by school leaders and community consensus, the Scituate Public Schools Five Year Accountability Plan (2003 – 2008) presents a vision of where the Scituate Public Schools plans to be going forward. Find it on the school website (http://www.scituatek12.ma.us/). The goals are simple but the objectives are detailed and the responsibilities outlined.

While ultimately the Superintendent ensures the completion of all objectives, we as a school committee have identified three top needs for the schools currently and have created sub-committees to address them: facilities, finances and communication.

The sub-committee’s charge will be fact-finding, working groups with representation from various Scituate schools and grade-levels. They will be led by a school committee member who will report back to the school committee for feedback, discussion and a vote on the sub-committees recommendations.

I am the chair of the communication sub-committee. Members include representatives from each of the 6 schools as well as each of the organizations supporting our schools. Our mission is to forge school community relations. The communication sub-committee members and goals are included on the school website on the School Committee page.

As Mark Twain once said “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” I believe there is much community members don’t understand about the process, or things they think they “know” for sure.

The communication sub-committee will develop a policy that outlines procedures for communications with the public, media, parents, staff and students. There will be a focus on ensuring positions are clear and consistent to avoid confusion or misunderstandings.

The School Committee’s responsibility is to implement statutory requirements pertaining to public education as well as fulfill local citizens’ expectations for the education of the community youth. We want to hear those expectations and act on them.

Working with the newly formed CSI: Scituate, we plan to improve communications in the district. I want the power of our intentions to drive the direction of our school district