Sarasota School Superintendent Proposes Insight Community Engagement
A rough draft is now available for the public to review
At the April 1 Sarasota School board work session, Superintendent Terry Connor followed up on a decision he made in November 2024. For three months, starting in January 2025, he would test out dropping the frequency of two school board meetings a month to one. This would be a trial only. Connor cited efficiency as the reason. Freeing up the burden of the second monthly meeting meant staff would have more time to work with students and teachers.
He promised other avenues would be explored, where there could be a better setting for a back-and-forth exchange with the public. Connor reasoned that board meetings are for the business of the board and he was frustrated that rules didn’t allow for meaningful conversation with the public.
Public school advocates questioned the timing of this with a new administration coming in that promised to dismantle the United States Department of Education (USDOE). They wanted full transparency as to how this ever-changing landscape of budget cuts would affect the A-rated district. “We need more meetings during these turbulent times, not less,” cried one public school advocate.
At the sole March meeting, Connor declared the experiment a success and stated he would come up with alternate plans to be discussed with the board members at the April 1 meeting. This is the draft:
In an email, Connor wrote that this was a “first draft proposal which is also now available on the public meeting agenda. I will be sharing the revised version with the board by Friday which includes the board member suggestions and tentative dates.”
Overall, the board members approved, but with requested tweaks. The one self-described “outlier” was board member Tom Edwards.
The next board meeting takes place April 15.
In the next Dear Bubbie: We will be posting what the board members said specifically about the plan and hope to include your comments as well. Write to jslferguson@gmail.com with your opinions.
We will also cover the entire work session that brought about expected bad news over school vouchers. The unexpected comic relief at the end of the meeting came from none other than Bridget Ziegler. We have it all coming for you!