School Board - We began this blog in April with a series
about the School Board. Not only do
these school board directors represent you as taxpayers, they also make significant decisions about your children's education and your tax dollars. During this School Board Series
we were beyond thrilled to have ALL of the inbound board members participate as
we introduced them to our community.
CCAP
would like to WELCOME all the new school board members who will be sworn in on
Tuesday:
We also want to thank the
outgoing board members for their service. We especially want to thank Rob
Marshall. Mr. Marshall tirelessly served his term with integrity and an
open mind. It is no secret that many of us here at CCAP were concerned when he was
appointed, but Mr. Marshall quickly won everyone over. He sought information to
understand the problems of the district and he wasn’t afraid to question
anything that did not seem authentic.
Hearing from you - Recently we put out a
post on our Facebook for new blog topics.
We have heard you and we are working on those wonderful
suggestions. Please keep them coming. CCAP values the input from the community and
the topics you are interested in learning more about.
One of
those topics was an update on how the new interim superintendent Dr. Dunlap is
doing. It seems as if Dr. Dunlap will be addressing some hot topics himself on
a CASD’s Facebook live. According the the district’s Facebook post, “He will
be discussing the budget, town hall proposals, and his plan for the district in
the New Year.”
CCAP and the District - CCAP leaders have met
with Dr. Dunlap both as a community liaison and as members of the technology
team. At this time, we simply do not have enough information or data to
evaluate Dr. Dunlap’s performance. However, here are some key areas that have
given us optimism regarding his leadership:
Dr.
Dunlap discusses plans in relation to his team. He is meeting regularly with
other administrators in order to approach district matters with his team. He speaks
of his employees as a leader who respects them and their opinions. We witnessed
his interaction with some administrators and noticed that he asked for their
input, considered it, and made a decision based on that input.
Dr.
Dunlap’s presentations and frank words already reveal more communication
regarding issues of importance than the community received from our former
superintendent. This also speaks to his team approach as he and his leadership
team sit on the floor of meetings and present information together.
Additionally, Dr. Dunlap established some core groups to work with him on
initiatives for improvement. CATA representation was invited (and accepted) to participate at these meetings for the
first time in several years.
Dr.
Dunlap has all of the year’s board meetings topics planned. The information is
shared with the school board so that they can begin the ownership of
establishing agendas for meetings. Planning is critical as the last several
years we’ve found that the board was handed important topics for voting in the
final hours. It put them in a precarious position to vote on topics in order to
avoid penalties or without being provided enough or accurate information to
make educated votes. Some examples of the last minute items were the opening of
a 6th Grade Center, the opening of the 7/8 Center, the ATSI plan, the CASD
Improvement Plan, the accepting of the Tmobile Grant / rolling out the
Chromebooks, the discipline code, and the course selection guide.
Two events of importance this week that we want to highlight:
Monday, December 2, 6 pm - Dr. Dunlap’s Facebook Live on the CASD Facebook Page
Tuesday, December 3, 6 pm - School Board Organizational Meeting at the 11/12 Auditorium
Today’s blog post is asking for your input. We’d love to hear from community members, parents, and students. 
students. Currently, the district has its webpage, a Facebook page, Twitter page (and schools each have their own accounts). CASD also utilizes emails and automatic calls. 
What suggestions do you have for the district? What improvements would you like to see? What is the district doing well?
