Representatives from area districts close to picking members
Representatives from county districts were set to review
applications this week for the Committee on School District
Organization, an 11-member panel with authority to make decisions
on major changes such as mergers, dissolutions and annexations.
Representatives from area districts close to picking members
Representatives from county districts were set to review applications this week for the Committee on School District Organization, an 11-member panel with authority to make decisions on major changes such as mergers, dissolutions and annexations.
Mike Sanchez, superintendent of the San Benito County Office of Education, told the Free Lance that officials from the area’s 11 districts were scheduled to meet Thursday, after press time for The Pinnacle.
Their plans were to focus on reviewing the 12 applications the county office of education had received for the long-absent committee. Sanchez did not, however, expect the district representatives to actually appoint the 11 members at this week’s meeting.
Those appointments likely are not far off, though, as school officials choosing the panel have plenty of residents from which to pick.
“That is one of the things we will talk about Thursday,” Sanchez said. “We want those people to come in and to have a special event for them.”
Since Sanchez was appointed to succeed former Superintendent Tim Foley in February, the committee’s formation has been a top priority for the new schools chief. Officials have left the committee dormant for years, with few ideas for change coming forward.
The panel is coming back, Sanchez said, to be in place when growth-related proposals are broached in years to come. Each appointed member will commit to serving either a two- or four-year term.
And although the panel’s slate of potential considerations is broad – others include unifications, establishing of trustee areas and formations of new districts – its decisions can be appealed to the State Board of Education.
School officials intend to fill the committee with two appointees from each supervisorial district and an at-large member. Panel members will decide how often they meet, which can be monthly, quarterly or yearly.
