District 211 to consider broadcasting meetings
Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 will add the question of whether to broadcast its school board meetings - and how - to the list of things considered by a strategic plan process getting under way next month.
Board member Peter Dombrowski introduced the subject at Thursday's school board meeting, initially with the intention of the board making a decision in the short term.
But while fellow board members Anna Klimkowicz and Mike Scharringhausen immediately voiced support for the idea, Klimkowicz suggested getting public feedback first through the upcoming strategic plan process could be beneficial.
Board Member Luanna Recker said she thought recording and broadcasting the meetings almost immediately might be the way to solicit stronger feedback. However, board President Mucia Burke said using the already established strategic plan process might be a better way to take the first steps, and Dombrowski concurred.
Dombrowski, a Schaumburg resident, said he'd heard from people living in Palatine that they appreciated being able to see the broadcasts of Palatine Township Elementary District 15 meetings.
Discussions about drafting a new strategic plan for District 211 have been deferred for several years. Klimkowicz suggested last December that the time had come to stop putting it off, saying a plan would at least provide something in writing to explain to the public the reasons behind the district's decisions on its budget, tax levy and programs.
Superintendent Dan Cates suggested a yearlong process using a committee structure that would combine the insights of district administrators with members of the public.
A comprehensive review of the district's existing planning process was held during the winter and spring, with the idea work on a new strategic plan would start in earnest after the newly elected board members - who included Dombrowski, Recker and Will Hinshaw - had been seated and settled in.