JOHN GRIFFIN
· START with gathering community and teacher input through district-wide surveys by phone, focus groups, social media, email, etc. We need to analyze and utilize that data to spend time focusing on what the public wants, not what their assumed wants are.
LIAISONS as representatives
· Next, we need to go out and gather a committee of diverse community members who can act as not only representatives, but also liaisons to their schools, neighborhoods, organizations, PTOs, etc. In this way, we can involve community members in a cohesive effort in which their voices are heard in a transparent fashion BEFORE any recommendations or decisions are made. These meetings must be held in the open and recorded to serve as public record every step of the way. The information must flow both ways.
CLEAR directives
· The committee must be given a clear directive from the community and not put into a position where they are trying to determine what the community wants. They can then focus on achieving the goals of making recommendations.
RECOMMENDATIONS
· Finally, a recommendation can be made to the Board for their consideration. To go out of order may give the perception and feel that the public isn't being heard or worse, ignored.
District 833's next major issues /decisions and processes must start with a massive public relations campaign from day one. This process must be aimed at ground-up ideas and implementation, NOT top-down. The most powerful changes in history started with the voices of many. Out of many, one....One district with one unified direction.
