Process To Create a New School District in Southeast Salt Lake County

Dear Parents, Educators and Community Members,

    The development of a new school district is both a complex undertaking and a great opportunity requiring the involvement and support of an entire community. The Education Transition Team is currently engaged in meeting with all of the School Community Councils across the new school district. Our goal is to facilitate conversations with stakeholders, exploring their vision for the  educational operations of the new eastside district. We see the need to listen carefully to the concerns and aspirations of parents, teachers  and other stakeholders in order to accurately represent their wishes to the new eastside school board.

    As a result of the information gathered in the SCC meetings, the Education Transition Team will identify emergent themes and begin to organize ad hoc committees to study implementation strategies and best practices in the identified areas. This will be a long term, ongoing process. Nonetheless, we anticipate that a few of the  most critical of the ad hoc committees will be organized by the end of April when the Education Transition Team will have completed their information gathering meetings with all of the School Community Councils on the Eastside. Please refer to the this website for the dates of a new round of  Town Meetings where the Interlocal Committee of Mayors and Education Transition Team will report  on the topics that have emerged and  further discuss the time line for the formation of  committees.
    
    The Education Transition Team believes that the first priority in planning for the new eastside district should be to assure a smooth transition when the two districts begin to function separately in July of 2009 and to avoid any disruption of services in current educational programs and district support services. A great deal of time, energy, and thought will be given between now and the summer of 2009 to the accomplishment of this priority. To decide which educational and support services should be shared by the two districts, at least for a time, and how those shared services will be provided and equitably paid for by both districts will be a major undertaking. Our efforts over the next few months will focus primarily on this first priority so that the new board, superintendent, and other key leaders will have a jump start when beginning their planning process this August.

    We believe that the first and primary objective should be to assure that the new district gets off to a good start without disruption in educational programs and services. The second objective is to build upon the excellent practices currently in place. As per the direction of educators and parents there may be eventual enhancements and changes in programs based on research, committee work and the leadership of the new board and administration of the district. With that in mind the necessary work will be accomplished in stages.

Stages of Committee Work
 
Stage One:
Effective Implementation of Services: The purpose of this stage is to manage the continuity and efficiency of vital programs and services necessary to begin full operation of the new district by the 2009-10 school year. It is critical that the majority of time between now and the startup of the new district be devoted to the huge task of ensuring there be no loss of accustomed services. This phase will also include exploration of services to be shared by the two districts, with interlocal agreements expected to be developed during the 2008-09 school year.

Stage Two:
Exploration and Refinement of Services:  The purpose of this stage is to encourage the community and critical staff to research and explore the innovations and enhancements that will create the unique characteristics of the district. Stage Two ad  hoc committees will be organized beginning immediately and extending throughout the 2008-09 school year and beyond to provide a  forum for investigation of key educational topics for parents, teachers and other stakeholders wishing to give ongoing input to the school board and to district administrators.

Stage Three:
Implementation of Significant Educational Changes:  The purpose of this stage, under the direction of the superintendent and administrative staff,  is to implement the educational innovations and enhancements that have been thoroughly researched, discussed, and disseminated throughout the district.

First Committees
    From the School Community Council Meetings held thus far, a few general themes have begun to emerge. Possible committees in the following areas will likely be among the first to be organized to begin Stage One discussions:

Topics of General Interest

  • School Community Council (SCC) Training
  • Communication and Interaction with the School Board
  • Governance
  • Special Education
  • Gifted Education

Topics of Special Interest to Employees

  • Salary and Benefit Comparisons/ Certified and Classified
  • Reforming School Districts (based upon research from professional associations such as NEA, UEA, and others sources)
  • Articulation of Grade Level Transitions Within and Between Schools


Retaining and Attracting Outstanding Staff

    There is no doubt that the foundation of any school district is the dedicated administrators, teachers, and other employees. One of the most basic and important issues to be addressed as soon as possible is that of retaining outstanding educators and continuing to attract the very finest employees possible. To that end, the three board members who will continue to serve the new district have issued a memorandum indicating their support of educators and their intent to maintain the current status and benefits of employees (click here to read the memorandum).

    Thousands of students are counting on all of us to develop an exceptional and responsive school district. Together we can make it happen.

The Education Transition Team