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Wichita principals usually can't scrape together enough parents, staff and residents to hold a meeting of their site councils, advisory committees that are required by state law.
But this month, when site councils voted on what programs they most want the school board to keep, new parents and staff packed the meetings, trying to save their child's program — or even their jobs.
They placed sticker dots next to a list of programs to tell school leaders which ones they value as the Wichita district looks at $25 million in budget cuts next year.
The Wichita district is depending on site councils to represent the voices of the community. The advisory committee is required to have at least one representative from the following groups: principal, teachers, staff, parents, business community and community organizations.
But many Wichita site councils are far from the diverse and effective advisers they're expected to be, said school board president Barbara Fuller.
"This is the only vehicle we have to include those people," Fuller said.
How meaningful will site councils' value rankings be to school board members as they decide budget cuts in the coming months?
"I think that question needs to be asked," Fuller said. "I'd like to see a representative of every group."
Fuller has requested information on site council members and meetings because she thought they weren't meeting board policy, such as reporting a list of members each year. On the district's Web site, site council meeting information for each school is often outdated or incomplete.
Staff participation
Site councils include school employees, but some of the meetings this month had far more staff members than those who regularly serve on the committee.
For most school employees, the site council was their only chance to place their dots. Only the employees who make up a school's leadership team participated in a separate school staff ranking.
But at some schools, all staff were allowed to participate in both the employee ranking and the site council meeting — leaving the possibility open to some staff voting twice, principals said.
Of the 25 people who attended the site council meeting at College Hill Elementary earlier this month, the vast majority were school employees. Keeping class sizes small received the most votes. Categories such as professional development, team time and learning coaches received few or no votes.
A kindergarten teacher said the possibility of larger classes is what she fears most from potential budget cuts.
"I really, really don't want to see classes get any bigger," Amanda Johnson said. "That's my priority."
Role of site councils
Statewide, the role and structure of site councils varies widely, even though Kansas Association of School Boards has specific guidelines, which Wichita has used in much of its policy, said Doug Moeckel, board development specialist for KASB.
Kansas law only requires that site councils exist for a school to be accredited by the state.
Their focus is strategies to improve student achievement, but site councils can be called upon to help set priorities during budget cuts.
Because site council membership is voluntary, setting up an ideal, active committee can be difficult, Moeckel said.
Moeckel said he commends Wichita for using site councils for feedback on budget priorities, even if most participants had never been to a site council meeting.
A site council can invite the public to help give input, and he said it would be expected that more people would show up for budget cut talks.
"When resources get short, you're going to have input from lots of people trying to defend" their interests, Moeckel said.
District leaders have to keep in mind who participated and why they're interested in defending certain programs, he said.
Fostering involvement
Many principals said they collected contact information from all in attendance at the large site council meetings and will encourage them to come to the next meeting.
At Truesdell, each teacher called one parent to extend an invitation to the site council meeting on March 4. Jennifer Sinclair, the principal followed up by mailing those parents postcards, drawing almost 30 people, up dramatically from the usual two parents.
"We have 800 kids here," she said. "I'm thrilled. It's better to have this group than just those two" who show up regularly.
Some Truesdell students participated in the value ranking.
Sixth-grader Taylor Phillips ranked the Advancement via Individual Determination program highest because she plans to join for more rigorous courses.
"It will help with my grades," she said. "I really want to go to college."
Her father, Rickey Phillips, was at a site council meeting for the first time because of a phone call from Taylor's science teacher. He was less decisive about the rankings.
"I don't have a clue," Phillips said. "We need it all. Where do you start?"
