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New councils
will best serve
schools, communities

Schools work best when they are part of the community. Why is it important for schools to be "neighborhood" schools?

Each one of us "owns" our schools, particularly the ones closest to where we live. We know that when families participate in their children's education, their children and the school become more successful. These beliefs are embedded in Act 51, the Reinventing Education Act of 2004: "One of the most important means of improving educational outcomes and public confidence in these outcomes is by enhancing community involvement."

Act 51 mandates that School Community Councils be established in all public schools (except charter schools) by the 2005-2006 school year. Are SCCs just another version of the School/Community-Based Management councils, another method of shared educational management enacted into law in 1989?

Unlike the old SCBM councils, members of the SCC will be elected by their peers, and the number of community stakeholders on the SCC (students, parents and community members) must be equal to the number of school staff.

Each SCC must be composed of the principal and at least one member representing teachers, noncertificated personnel (nonteaching school employees), students, community members (those living in the school's geographical area, graduates of the school, and those owning, operating or working in a business within the school's community), and parents. A draft of the SCC manual is available on the Department of Education Web site (http://doe.k12.hi.us).

The Legislature envisioned SCCs as a vehicle for shared decision making, and the DOE's SCC brochure (http://reach.k12.hi.us) defines the council as "a major part of the overall decision-making structure at each school." Yet in practice the council will be advisory, its primary purpose to evaluate the school's academic and financial plan (AFP) that initially will be developed by the principal. The council will offer recommendations and forward a recommended AFP to the Complex Area Superintendent for adoption.

The AFP will become the blueprint for a school's goals, priorities, programs and activities, and will guide every academic and financial decision made at the school level. Money coming to schools under the new weighted student formula (starting in June 2007) will be spent in alignment with the plan.

Each year the SCC will evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of the plan, and make changes accordingly. It also will participate in principal selection, and it will be a forum for local community dialogue about teaching and learning at the school. SCCs will be able to seek waivers of Board of Education policies and exceptions to collective bargaining agreements.

Twenty-two pilot schools are now modeling SCCs and the development of academic and financial plans, and the DOE is providing extensive training for these schools.

What do pilot school principals think of SCC? They say the council provides a means for greater ownership and buy-in. One says "community involvement changes the whole culture of the school." School budgeting and expenditures will be more transparent and better understood, and this will open the door to informed discussion about ways to improve student performance.

Yes, School Community Councils will differ considerably from the old SCBMs. You can help make SCCs work by volunteering to stand for election, by recruiting SCC candidates and by attending SCC meetings. Each one of us has a responsibility to make our schools work and help Hawaii's children succeed.

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