Arlington Family Connection

RESOURCES - Arlington's School Committee and How it Works

ABOUT SCHOOL COMMITTEE

The Arlington School Committee is made up of seven members. Two or three members are elected "at large" in the Spring Town Elections (usually the first Saturday in April) for a three-year term. The chair and subcommittees are appointed for a year, from April to April. The School Committee is responsible for hiring a Superintendent of schools, preparing a budget for the School Department, approving policies relating to education and instructing the administrators to implement those policies, negotiating a contract with the Arlington Education Association, and finally, reviewing and evaluating the curriculum.

The School Committee meets regularly, on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month, from September to June. The meetings are held on the sixth floor of Arlington High School in the School Committee Room, usually at 7:30 pm. The meetings are open to the public. The agenda is posted on the online calendar. It is also distributed by the School Committee secretary 48 hours before the meeting. The agenda is also posted in each school, at Town Hall and usually on Arlington cable the day of the meeting and is available at the door of the School Committee room. Occasionally, the meetings will end with an executive session, which is closed to the public.

The agenda for each meeting is set by the chair of the School Committee and the Superintendent of schools. Anyone can ask that a particular issue be placed on the agenda either by contacting the chairperson or superintendent or by making the request in writing to the School Committee secretary at least a week before the meeting.

Each School Committee meeting opens with public participation. Twenty minutes is set aside for any citizen to address the School Committee on school business. However, the School Committee may not comment on any statements made during public participation. This policy is frustrating to the person who is addressing the committee but, legally, only items listed on the agenda may be discussed during a regular meeting. Occasionally, a member may ask that an issue raised during participation be placed on the agenda for a future meeting. The approved minutes of School Committee meetings are kept at Robbins Library and are also online.

The seven School Committee subcommittees all have three members and meet irregularly. The subcommittees are: Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment, Task Force on Safety, Policies & Procedures, Specialized Student Services, Community Relations, Maintenance & Operations, and Budget. These meetings are much more informal and the public may participate in the meeting at the discretion of the chair of the subcommittee. Each subcommittee may make recommendations only to the full committee; it cannot act independently. Other standing town committees that include a School Committee representative are Alcohol/Drug Council, Budget & Revenue Task Force, and Permanent Town Building Committee. (From www.town.arlington.ma.us).

For further information on the School Committee including policies and meeting notes as well as committee members, see Arlington School Committee.

The School Committee policy manual is available online at www.town.arlington.ma.us/schools/scom/policies.htm. This version is useful because it has an associated search engine for locating items of interest. For questions not answered online, try contacting the School Committee secretary Karen Tassone at 781-316-3540. The following topics are covered in the policy manual in a clear and jargon-free manner:

Foundations and basic commitments
School Board governance and operations
General school administration
Fiscal management
Support services
Facilities development
Personnel
Negotiation
Instruction
Students
Community relations
Education agency relations

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
The Arlington Advocate www.townonline.com/arlington
Arlington Public Schools www.arlington.k12.ma.us
Arlington Town Website www.town.arlington.ma.us
Department of Education www.doe.mass.edu
Think of Our Kids Advocacy Group thinkofourkids-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Research provided by Judy Petrie and Dianna Dixon