Emily and Andrea send in this news…

…the CSD System Charter Leadership Team will have a work session with the CSD Board of Education tomorrow at 6 pm in the Hospitality Room at the DHS Auditorium complex. At 7 pm Dr. Edwards is set to deliver a State of the District message to all School Leadership Team members at a special SLT congress meeting in the DHS Auditorium.

In the meantime, be sure to check out Part 1 of Decatur edTV’s “Charter Report First Year Progress Report” below. 

According to the State Department of Education, Decatur is leading the way in terms of defining the roles in the new SLT/Board of Ed governance system and in “pushing the envelope” in terms of flexible funding.

CSD Mom writes in with this blurb, reminding me about CSD’s very important cost-cutting meeting tonight at 6:30p…

The CSD Board of Education will hear proposals from Superintendent Dr. Phyllis Edwards on budget cuts for the 2009-10 school year at their board meeting tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Westchester. Recently, parent members of Decatur’s new School Leadership Teams had the opportunity in October 2008 to tell Dr. Edwards where they would cut $2 million from the 2009-10 district budget. See some of the highlights of that exercise in this video from Decatur EDtv: http://www.elifemagazine.net/csdbudget.htm.

Its a great video.  Check it out if you have time.  (Thanks Andrea!)

It will be interesting to see how the suggestions of the new leadership teams are weighed and taken into consideration by the school board, since that was the major bone of contention with the State Board of Ed when the charter application was tabled in May.

This new Decatur edTV video shows charter school consultant Debbie Pipin laying down some ground rules for the  CSD Leadership Teams.  Even in the after videos, you can tell that some of the participants (both parents and educators) have that “what have I gotten myself into?” look on their face.   Good stuff.   Thanks Andrea!

According to Pipin, some of the big no-no’s for team members are engaging in “parking lot meetings” after-hours and speaking out against a vote after it has passed.  Also, teachers on teams need to be cognizant that if they are seen talking alone at school, it could be seen as discussing issues outside of meetings.

Actually this blog is like a giant, virtual parking lot meeting where everyone wears paper bags on their heads.

Oooh…catchy, new blog title.

Decatur edTV continues to do the in-depth reporting we’ve come to expect, with a series of video interviews with the newly-elected members of the Parent Leadership Teams across the city’s schools.

First up: David Hughes – DHS Senior Parent and Lawyer

Over at Decatur eLife, Andrea Berry has again put together another great video update on Decatur’s charter school process, interviewing potential parent and teacher candidates for the Leadership Boards at the recent candidate forums.

Berry reports in the video that parents will vote for their candidates this week and that election results will be posted online September 9th.