Bring the MCCSC School Board into the 21st Century! 15 minutes of your time can make a difference. Our current goal: For the MCCSC School Board to vote on Sept 26 to appoint a working group of school board members, to be supplemented by representatives from diverse interests within the county, to examine the boundaries for school board seats and review the school governance plan. After that vote, we will also push to ensure appropriate representation in the working group. 1. Petition to Update MCCSC School Board Seats: please sign if you have not yet https://www.change.org/p/mccsc-board-of-trustees-update-school-board-seats 2. Letter writing: below are talking points to support letter writing efforts, with contact emails. When you write a letter, please send a copy to the Herald-Times AND to school board members. The key swing school board members to focus efforts: Kelly Smith and Lois Sabo-Skelton. We need to encourage them to request this topic for the Sept. 26 agenda. 3. Public comment: We also need a critical mass of people to speak at 6:00 pm on Sept. 26 during public comment at the school board meeting. A couple of minutes of your time to speak up will be very persuasive! What Should I Say? Some ideas… - The current system has not been changed since 1996! It should be revised every 10 years. - The zones for school board seats have deep population disparities. The largest zones are TWICE as large as smallest. - The current plan requires resident to have lived in the same zone for 2 years to be eligible to run as a candidate. This is twice as long as the requirement for other elected offices. - In each election cycle, there is often at least one seat that goes uncontested. - All school board seats are currently “At Large” - changing to a mix of at-large and geographic seats would offer a better opportunity for a local voice and representation. - The current system is outdated, disproportionate, and interferes with the integrity of the election process. Who Should I Send This To? 1. Friends and colleagues: Tell them about the need to update about our antiquated system—and the need for equity-minded candidates to run for school board! Ask them to sign the change.org petition. https://www.change.org/p/mccsc-board-of-trustees-update-school-board-seats. Direct motivated citizens to information at EducationalEquityIN@gmail.com 2. Current school board members: Write an email to asking them to vote to update the school governance plan, including the zones for school board seats: cfr@mccsc.edu ; djbutler@mccsc.edu ; kklein@mccsc.edu ; lskelton@mccsc.edu ; wksmith@mccsc.edu ; swanzer@mccsc.edu ; mstreet@mccsc.edu (Copy the superintendent: jdemuth@mccsc.edu) 3. Members of the community: Write a letter to the editor of the Herald Times to amplify your voice: http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/forms Thank you for your support!