Dear Spectrum Community,
As the Executive Committee of Spectrum’s Board, we wanted to reach out to you with some information, followed by an invitation, regarding decision-making and policy at our school.
Spectrum’s policies come from an established system which include:
1) Laws we must follow, including all rules in the Illinois School Code for establishing and maintaining a recognized Illinois school2) Mandates from government authorities (those having legal authority over our school operations) This would include emergency mandates or orders.3) Orders from public officials with authority over us by condition, like police or fire in an emergency setting.4) Agreements we have made that affect our operations, like following rules set forth by our insurance provider or within our lease agreement.5) Our standing policies, like those previously set out in rules and regulations we have set for our staff and families.6) Policies made by Spectrum leadership using information from industry standards, best practices, experience, and wisdom. Best practices include receiving input and feedback from all stakeholders.
Due to a variety of factors, we have not had an active protocol in place for public voice at Board meetings for several years. We have published in the school handbook the names of Board members and encourage parents to meet Board members at various events, as well as contact them with suggestions and concerns. We actively recruit parents for Board membership so parents are well represented in making decisions on behalf of the parents and children our school.
The Board values your input. We are aware of varied opinions on wearing masks in school and would like to invite parents who wish to be heard on this issue to a special public forum next week, Monday, February 21 at 6:00pm in the school Commons.
The members of the Executive Committee will listen to public opinion using the following protocols:
- Sign in to speak at the meeting with name, email, and phone number. We will follow the order of the sign in.
- Sign in will begin at 5:45pm.
- Plan to limit your speaking to 3 minutes, to give all participants a chance to be heard.
- This is not a forum for debate or argument. Meeting attendees are expected to be respectful and refrain from responsive commentary.
- The Exec will listen to speakers, take notes to inform future decisions, and thank participants for comments.
We look forward to hearing parent input on this matter.
Dave Diamond
Andrew Mertzenich
Melissa Prete
Charles Barnes
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