Rick Patrick
rick@greenepublishing.com
During a special meeting of the Madison County District School Board on Monday, June 30, the board voted to rescind a previous shared services agreement with Jefferson County. The agreement, previously accepted by the Madison County School Board would have called for shared leadership positions in transportation, exceptional student education (ESE) and Human Resources. When the agreement passed by the Madison County School Board was presented to the Jefferson County School Board, there were amendments proposed to the job description for the ESE Director. This called for the Madison County School Board to accept the amended job description. When called for, a motion to accept the amended job description failed to be made. A motion to rescind the previous agreement was made and passed unanimously by the Madison County School Board.
“I would like to reaffirm my previous opposition to the shared services agreement,” said Board Member Devin Thompson. “I understand the allure of cost savings through shared services. However with critical position such as ESE I feel strongly that the risks outweigh the benefits. Shared roles dilute accountability, hinder responsiveness, threaten staff retention and may not yield the financial savings that we expect. Our students and staff and our community deserve leaders who are fully present, committed and rooted in Madison County. I urge my fellow Board Members to reject this agreement as we have done and, instead, seek solutions that preserve both efficiency and excellence for Madison County. Our current staff members are embedded in our community and they possess knowledge of our staff, our students and our family. Research shows that educators commuting affect their retention already and us expecting them to commute back and forth between Madison and Jefferson Counties will add demand on top of their already demanding positions and would exacerbate turnover rates in Madison County.”
“I do agree that the shared services is a good, innovative way for us to start moving forward,” said Board Member Katie Knight. “However, the right partner makes a huge difference in everything that we do, and we also need to focus on the consolidation this coming school year. I think once we get through this consolidation and we get everything balanced out and we make sure that we have everything for our staff and students put to the foremost of importance in this transition year, then we need to revisit this potentially in the future, with the right partnership.”
The next regular meeting of the Madison County District School Board is scheduled to take place on Monday, July 7, at 6 p.m., in the meeting room of the district office, located at 210 NE Duval Ave., in Madison.