When, where and how often should board of education members attend conferences? How much should be allocated for travel and other incidentals? How many board members should attend a singular event?
These were several of the questions Naperville School District 203’s Board of Education delved into during a recent wide-ranging discussion about the balance between the cost of funding conference travel, which sometimes extends beyond Illinois, and the benefit of networking and attending informational seminars.
No firm decisions were reached as the agenda item was hashed over at the Monday, April 15 meeting, but several board members gave impassioned responses to their particular views on the topic.
New organization spurred discussion
Board President Kristine Gericke said she placed the topic on the recent meeting agenda, in part to decide District 203’s future participation in the Consortium of State School Board Associations’ conferences, which have been held three times this past year. COSSBA is a new organization.
With costs in mind, District 203’s board had capped participation at one member at a COSSBA conference in Washington, D.C., and a separate one in Dallas, Texas. A third one, held locally in Chicago, was open to all board members.
Gericke, who attended the local COSSBA conference and was the board delegate at the event in the nation’s capitol, gave her take on the pair of events.
“Both of the conferences were good, but I didn’t feel that they were outshining what we could get with our Triple I conference in November,” Gericke said, referring to the annual networking and hospitality event the Illinois Association of School Business Officials puts on each fall, in conjunction with the Illinois Association of School Boards and other groups.
Gericke added, “I take away so much more from (Triple I) every year than I believe I took away from the August and February (COSSBA) conference combined.”
New board member expresses frustration
Board member Melissa Kelley Black, who joined the elected body nearly a year ago, gave a different take on conference attendance. She said board members who want to attend conferences should have the ability to do so, as long as funds are available.
“I’m a little confused why, as an educational organization, we’d be limiting education,” Kelley Black said. “I’ve also noticed that those that have the opportunity to go to conferences are mostly the people that have been here forever, versus the people who are younger. I keep asking for educational opportunities and access to information.”
Kelley Black said she prefaced her comments around District 203 have surplus funds in its budget, which she argued could be partially applied to conference attendance for board members who want to grow in their elected role.
Cost and other considerations
Gericke, in one pointed exchange with Kelley Black, pushed back against unlimited conference attendance, even if there is a surplus on the balance sheet.
“I’m also cognizant that the money sitting in the bank is coming from the community,” Gericke said. “It ain’t my dollars — it’s the community’s dollars. I need to be able to look at the community and say I am spending the money the very best way I can.”
Board member Donna Wandke said she believed caution should be exercised within District 203, given past responses from constituents elsewhere in the region.
“Other communities were very publicly put to task for having a few too many people go to a Triple I conference,” Wandke said. “It wasn’t our community, because we are on top of this, and because we did keep our expenses down. We have heard from people that this needs to be an area where we are very diligent in watching our dollars and paying attention to how those are spent.
In response to Kelley Black’s remarks, board member Amanda McMillen suggested a provision for conference attendance be made available to newly elected officials.
“It would be an opportunity for them to be exposed a bit more and feel confident in what they are bringing back to the board,” McMillen said. “Maybe that could be something to consider.”
The District 203 board could revisit conference attendance at an upcoming meeting.
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