HSSD Board of Education discusses community engagement and survey for referendum

HOWARD/SUAMICO – The Howard-Suamico School Board opened its Oct. 13 meeting by recognizing its partnership with the Suamico Fire Department before turning its attention to community feedback and preparations for the upcoming referendum.

Discussing the community engagement session of the previous week, there were 70 attendees and themes consisted of messages of support and concern for the referendum, concern for space constraints, the maintenance of quality education through small class sizes, competitive employee compensation, preparation of students for the trades and clear communication regarding personal tax implications, referendum goals and future capacity planning.

On the community survey for the referendum, HSSD Director of Communications Kimberley Uelmen said that it would be open from Oct. 16 through Oct. 31 and that communications would involve postcards, the district website, social media, digital newsletters, media relations and word of mouth, saying “if [community members] see it three to four times, they’ll be more likely to complete the survey… in its entirety.”

Superintendent Mark Smith said, “Our goal was for it to be concise as possible, we’re happy that it’s definitely going to be under ten minutes and depending on your speed of reading it may be between six to seven… We don’t want to overpromise and underdeliver on that.”

The board unanimously approved the Executive Limitations Policy Monitoring Report for policy EL-9 Communication and Counsel to the Board, which states that “The Superintendent shall not permit the Board to be inadequately informed or unsupported in its work.”

The board also unanimously approved the B/SR-3 Delegation to the Superintendent Policy Monitoring Report, which is interpreted as say saying that “The Board will govern through ends policies and executive limitations. Also, the Board will respect any reasonable interpretation of its policies by the Superintendent.”