Why a focus on transparency? Because schools are EVERYONE'S business! Like all elected public
officials, school board directors take an oath to uphold state and federal laws. One foundational
piece of legislation, the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA),acknowledges that a legitimate
government holds its power by consent of the people and that its authority rests on accountability. OPMA's aim
is to assure accountability through transparency.
"Transparent" means "clear", although interestingly it is derived from Latin trans (through) - + parēre, to show
oneself (Merriam-Webster). Government shows itself when its processes are clear, its information is accessible, its communication is responsive and timely, and it invites open discussion. OPMA addresses accessibility and openness. It requires that all meetings of governing bodies of public agencies be appropriately noticed and open to the public.
The Open Public Meetings Act (codified in RCW 42.30.010) opens with a stern and purposeful declaration:
The legislature finds and declares that all public commissions, boards, councils, committees, subcommittees, departments, divisions, offices, and all other public agencies of this state and subdivisions thereof exist to aid
in the conduct of the people's business. It is the intent of this chapter that their actions be taken openly and
that their deliberations be conducted openly. The people of this state do not yield their sovereignty to the
agencies which serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on
remaining informed and informing the people’s public servants of their views so that they may retain control
over the instruments they have created. For these reasons, even when not required by law, public agencies
are encouraged to incorporate and accept public comment during their decision-making process.
As I mentioned on the "Welcome" page, citizen input is invaluable to our decision making, since we board directors represent you. I do my part to encourage attendance and participation and to inform people about the responsibility and powers of school boards (spelled out in Section 28A of the Revised Code of Washington, the RCWs that govern common schools). I also guide people to use BoardDocs, to read meeting agendas and find board policies so they can follow the meetings or prepare comments. At board meetings, if I feel there is an agenda item people would want more information on, I strive to initiate discussion.
I feel that transparency has improved in some aspects during the last four years. The Superintendent added a full-time public records officer so that records requests can be handled promptly and efficiently. This year the Board was more actively involved in budget discussions and our meetings included regular presentations and updates from the Finance Director. Director Nancy Button and I committed to serve ongoing as the audit committee so that a board committee could exist to perform a required function. I have identified a list of other tasks that, when accomplished, should allow the board to function better and take some burden off administrators. I am not going to list them here, but if you are interested, please contact me. Thank you!
