By Eric Valentine
Blaine County School District—like all school districts—is finding itself impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as much as any other organization on the planet. As if virtual classes, budget shortfalls and new safety protocols weren’t challenging enough, many parents, economists and governors want schools to physically reopen sooner than later and the President of the United States may try to force their hand to do so.
All that means a lot of change is coming to the school district in the fall and into 2021, and perhaps beyond. Change was something a number of parents, teachers and other stakeholders had been vocally calling for the past few years. It just wasn’t that kind of change they wanted.
What’s interesting to watch is how the change those folks did in fact want seems to be happening, not because of the coronavirus pandemic, but in spite of it.
First and foremost on the list of concerns some parents and teachers had involved BCSD superintendent GwenCarol Holmes. They complained about what they described as an environment of retribution they claim Holmes created for anyone raising issues about anything BCSD. Fair or unfair, or somewhere in between, cut to 2020 and Holmes announces she will not be seeking to extend her contract, which ends June 20, 2021.
Now the school board has launched a search for a new superintendent. But before that happens, trustees needed to select a firm to manage that search. They have selected Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, an executive search firm experienced in finding talent for resort communities such as a recent one they did in Aspen and Vail, Colorado. At the school board’s July 21 meeting, the firm will present its plan to find a good fit for superintendent.
What we know now is that the plan involves a tremendous amount of community input to come up with candidates trustees will ultimately select. Fifteen one-hour focus groups of up to 15 people will be held. Four larger community forums will also be slated for August. And an electronic survey will be sent out around Labor Day as well.
The July 21 session will be available to view on the Blaine County School District Board of Trustees channel on YouTube, most likely by the next day. And if you’re someone who was seeking change in how things were run at the school district, you should probably view it.
In fact, you may want to view the regular board meetings, too. They … have changed. In part, they are different because they are done Zoom-style on the YouTube channel. You get to see the books, in some cases, trustees have apparently read. But moreso, and more seriously, they have changed in that they are board-centric, not staff-centric, as past sessions have been. In a recent meeting on a particular topic, board president and local attorney Keith Roark—politely—muted the superintendent from participating in a discussion. If there ever had been strong-handed control of a board topic in the past—it’s something Holmes’ critics often complained about—it’s not happening under Roark. Meetings are run with the efficiency of a courtroom.
The webcast sessions are also efficient because you can fast forward and rewind as needed, so you don’t have to spend any time on any topic that doesn’t interest or titillate you. And besides, it’s summer, and there’s nothing good on TV until the fall. At least that’s how things used to be.