You nice people that come here and read my nonsense might remember I was elected to the local Board of Education this past April. (a fact that still amazes & humbles me every time I do something Board of Educationy. Like read an agenda.) Which I don't write much about because Holy Monkeyballs! the rules! the guidelines! ethics policies! sunshine laws! and you can't be seen outside looking at other board members on the 3rd Tuesday of the month during a full moon or one might be accused of colluding or conducting illegal board business in a public setting.
You get the idea.
Plus, and what is probably more a gagger, some folks in town might read this blog, and that means anything I write here can, and probably would, come back to take big, meaty bites out of my ass. Not that my ass can't afford some chunks taken out of it, but that is a completely different issue. Once that involves exercise and sweat, two words I dislike on a parallel with liverwurst or prison.
It's an interesting process, this being a Board Member, and not for the faint of heart. The Learning Curve? Is not so much a curve as a gargantuan mountain peak. There is still so much to absorb, six months in. So far, I've been learning, absorbing (the brain is soggy), asking questions I know drive people batty, reading, getting a feel for the people involved, the school administrators, the central office folks, the other board members. Not too mention the community folks that attend the meetings. For me this is necessary. These folks, each and everyone, have everything to do with any results, good or bad, the board as a whole exhibits.
Understanding the educational system, from state guidance to local implementation, requires a huge amount of reading and data gathering - I LOVE geeky data models & charts & analysis, Oh MY! they make me tingle, seriously. I'm a geek at heart. Making informed decisions is just as important to me as, one hopes, the other board members who have been at this for a while.
I also have no desire to grandstand or make my presence on the board about me. Because it is not. Okay, maybe it is, just a teensy bit, say this much [ blogger won't let me keep this space empty ].
I wanted to do something positive, give something good of myself. Feel productive.
There are some big projects coming up that are going to test my skills, my patience, my knowledge. Budget preparation, referendum research, balancing priorities and desires, etc.
There will be decisions I make, positions I take, that will not be popular or understood by some. There will be questions I ask, outside of the public forum, and answers to those questions will direct my actions. The public meetings that are held are a brief piece of the whole, so many things are analyzed and debated in committee meetings, executive sessions, that I find it redundant and wasteful to reiterate questions asked and answered earlier. Should I ask these questions again, just so the public can hear them?
Look, me and the microphone? We have a contentious relationship. It stares at me from the table, taunting me to awkwardly shove my mouth toward it and word vomit over the damn thing. I can hear it some meetings, sibilantly whispering "say something. ssssaaaaay something. you know you ssshould. quesssstion themmmm. sssay it, precioussss". It is very distracting, the bastard.
But if I have my answer already, is it necessary to bring it out before the public, if it does not impact the discussion? I don't know the answer to this yet. Somehow that feels like making a point just so people will notice what I'm doing. That is not who I am.
I only want to be noticed here, thank you very much. Because the Internet is so loving and attentive.
I think I had a point when I started this but it devolved into something waaaay less organized or time worthy.
How are your brains today, Internet friends?
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