Some Columbia school board members say they want students to play a role in their decision-making process this coming year, but they’re not sure how they want that to happen.

Ballenger

Longtime member David Ballenger likes the idea of allowing student representatives to sit in on board discussions.

"Maybe it’s time that we take the class presidents from Rock Bridge, Douglass and Hickman and allow them to be part of our board meetings," he said during the board’s annual retreat on Friday. "I want student input."

The students would not be voting members, Ballenger said.

Board member Chuck Headley, a professor emeritus of agricultural economics at the University of Missouri-Columbia, wasn’t keen on the idea. Headley has served on university boards where students were members and said the students did not have good attendance and rarely had anything to say.

Ballenger said students sitting in on the board meetings could relay information back to their peers. "You and I are not going to get kids excited about the MAP," he said, referring to the Missouri Assessment Program tests. "Kids are going to get kids excited. It’s hard to convince kids not to drop out, but they’ll listen to other kids."

The Rolla School District was the first in Missouri to add a student member to the school board, and a handful of other districts have followed.

It is helpful to have direct dialogue with students, Superintendent Phyllis Chase said, adding that Columbia’s three high school principals routinely meet with student representatives.

"We gather that information on a regular basis," she said.

Chase said the district could form an advisory committee made up of student representatives.

Member Michelle Gadbois, a former Hickman teacher, said she wants teachers to be a part of board discussions, as well. Teachers are typically represented at board meetings via the president of the Columbia Community Teachers Association. That individual can, like the rest of the public, comment on agenda items.

Rather than hearing from those individuals during lengthy board meetings, President Karla DeSpain suggested a monthly event where board members, teachers and students could get together.

Communication, whether it be with students, teachers or parents, topped the board’s list of priorities during the board’s all-day retreat on Friday.

Instead of relying on the news media to share board information with the community, Ballenger suggested the district buy advertising to tout achievements.

"We haven’t done a real good job of tooting our own horn," Ballenger said.

Member Steve Calloway agreed, saying the board should "be champions of our own message." Board members should sing that message "everywhere we are, and sing it in tune, so to speak."

Communication has been an ongoing board priority but is difficult to address, DeSpain said.

"The community is so broad. How do we engage those groups that we don’t hear from?" she asked. "That’s the struggle."

Board members suggested hosting events at churches, municipal buildings or other "neutral" community facilities.

They plan to use the facilities committee forums this fall as a launching pad. Those six public meetings, slated for Sept. 19 at the three high schools and three middle schools, are aimed to get public input about district facilities and programs.

Getting the community involved might prove key as the district starts to eye a third major high school. As those discussions begin, Headley would like to entertain the idea of a three-tiered educational structure, with the high schools housing grades nine through 12.

The public also will play a role in determining how a third major high school would be structured, school board member Darin Preis said. The school could be a traditional high school, like Hickman, could have block scheduling and unassigned time, like Rock Bridge, or could be a combination of the two. Or, Preis said, Columbia could come up with an entirely new structure.

"We have a huge opportunity to blow the walls off traditional high schools," he said. "We could change the way education is perceived in this community."