Jamestown Schools: A School-Community Partnership
"SCAN," issued by the Superintendent’s Office in conjunction with the School Committee, is designed to inform staff members and interested others of matters discussed and actions taken by the Jamestown School Committee at its most recent meeting. SCAN does not represent meeting minutes.
Retreat Discussion Topics:
• Town Council-School Committee Joint Meetings and Budget Work Sessions: Format and Schedule. The two groups agreed to meet in October to discuss pre-budget concerns and address broader, philosophical questions about school management, direction and vision. Council members will submit advance questions to the committee by October 1 to facilitate discussion at the joint meeting. The October meeting will allow the school committee to report updated enrollment numbers and share with the council factors and assumptions contributing to budget decisions. The two groups will meet again in February, following the school administration’s January budget presentation to the school committee. The school will submit its budget to the town administrator by March 1 and joint council-school committee annual budget workshops will be held in March/April.
• Town Council-School Committee Communication. The committee will email SCAN (School Committee Action Notes) regularly to council members to keep the council informed on school discussions, decisions and developments.
• Town and School Opportunities for Savings/Increased Efficiency. The two groups identified business operations, technology and the purchase of utilities as areas that might provide opportunities for collaboration/consolidation. The two groups also discussed the possibility of hiring a consultant to review school and town departments to identify strategies for savings/increased efficiency. Discussing health insurance options, the town administrator reported that the self-insured West Bay Collaborative program constitutes too great a risk for a small community and that Jamestown’s claims history may preclude participation in (acceptance by) the East Bay Collaborative’s Government Health Group of Rhode Island. The council and school committee agreed to follow closely legislative proposals for a statewide health insurance contract for municipal/school employees.
The next business meeting of the Jamestown School Committee will be on August 21; the next workshop meeting will be on September 4. All meetings are held at 7 p.m. in the Lawn library.