Proposed Powerlessness

Be warned about this presented bylaw revision:

"Additionally, individual Board members do not have the authority to investigate, resolve, or otherwise actively engage with community members with respect to complaints, personnel or student matters, or legal issues. Any Board member who receives a communication regarding such a topic shall forward the communication to or otherwise inform the Superintendent or Board president, as appropriate, who shall respond or otherwise follow-up, as needed. The Board member shall not respond substantively to the communication beyond acknowledging receipt and explaining the limits of the Board member's authority. It shall be the responsibility of the Superintendent or Board president to inform the Board or place the topic on a future Board agenda."

This proposed update is plain absurd - it negates the entire reason the Board exists - accountability and stewardship of the public's money, priorities, and trust!   On June 30th, our board conducted a first reading and discussion of a revised Board Bylaw 9200, which will likely be voted on at our next meeting on August 4th, hopefully with more discussion that leads to a rewrite or simply maintenance of our current policy without updates.  HOWEVER, it's the mentally memorialized above that keeps many board members incapacitated, being told to rely on "trust." May I never hand over the authority invested in me by my district to simply trust that issues brought up by the community are being handled appropriately.  I wholeheartedly agree with our current bylaw - board members do not have administrative responsibility or authority to resolve complaints.  However, persistent concerns demand investigation through community engagement when the resolution is unsatisfactory.  I want my community interactions to be not just positive, but productive!