As written, the resolution proposes having a Boundary Committee comprising nine School Board appointees, one Supt appointee and one rep each from District Advisory, ESE Advisory and ESOL Leadership Council, totalling 13. I agree that the committee should not be as wieldy and sprawling as last year, when each potentially affected school was permitted two reps each, some of whom didn't even show up or who were primarily invested - understandably - in saving their own schools. While I feel a compact Boundary Committee is a more efficient and meaningful way to go, the current proposal for its membership is glaring in its omission of the Diversity Committee, given that one of Diversity's core functions is to help ensure equity in school/student assignment and reassignment decisions.
Also, inclusion of one rep from each of the three Area Advisories could complement and enhance the currently proposed membership of the Boundary Committee, given the Areas' more community-specific knowledge and experience relating not only to their local schools but also broader matters such as demographics, feeder patterns, facilities and potential community impacts of closures/changes.
I also feel there needed to have been a more timely convening of this committee if its integrity was to be maximised. Members are required to attend just the three regional stakeholder meetings and not the individual community discussions currently ongoing. I feel Boundary committee members should be more deeply immersed in this if they are to provide well-informed advice to the Board. Boundary Committee members need to be closely and thoroughly engaged in this process. Staff's decision to schedule community meetings that clash with DAC and ESE Advisory's pre-existing meetings (plus one of ESE's subcommittee meeetings) when DAC and ESE are two of the only three Advisories currently proposed for inclusion on the Committee was ill judged. While the Boundary Committee is advisory only and does not necessarily hold weight in the Board's final decision-making, its role is not simply to check a box. I feel its members should be provided with the recordings of every community meeting to ensure thoroughness and respect for the communities affected. Thank you.