Manatee County school advisory council leaders train for major decisions

MANATEE -- Superintendent Diana Greene compared school advisory councils Tuesday to a certain type of boat gala.

All the boats are headed in the same direction with the same goal, but are decorated differently and may take slightly different paths to the finish line.

"We all have the same destination, but the SAC is what makes your boat a little bit different," Greene said.

Manatee County School District held its second training session for principals and school advisory council chairs to make sure expectations are clear. The SAC chairs gathered in small groups at Manatee Technical College to discuss problems, solutions and different ideas.

SACs are state-required groups set up to help ensure parent involvement in school-based decision-making. SACs help draft and approve school-improvement plans and work directly with a principal on school decisions.

"The SAC is more than a PTO," said Pamela Craig, district director of school improvement, speaking of voluntary parent-teacher organizations, which serve similar functions but without the same decision-making power. "It's always what is best for the students."

One of the most important issues is making sure voting SAC members represent the makeup of the school and its surrounding community to fall in line with state and district policy, said Pamela Craig, district director of school improvement.

Those policies include having members who reflect the ethnic, racial and economic makeup of the school.

"This is where it gets tricky," Craig said.

Craig encouraged those in attendance to consider looking at new ways to recruit parents to attend meetings and get involved. If too many parents of one demographic want to participate, Craig suggested having voting and non-voting members of the SAC.

"In a SAC, you need to think of it more in the terms of an electoral," she said. "We're choosing people who are going to vote and make important decisions based on your school needs."

After a brief training session led by Craig, which included information on complying with Sunshine Laws, the groups broke into separate sessions by school level to discuss issues and potential solutions more in-depth.

Richard Foster, SAC chairman at Mills Elementary School, suggested SAC meetings by held the same night as PTO meetings.

"We hold our SAC meetings the same meetings as our PTO meetings and there will generally be a teaser during the PTO meeting as to what is coming up in SAC," he said.

Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter@MeghinDelaney.

This story was originally published November 3, 2015 at 8:08 PM with the headline "Manatee County school advisory council leaders train for major decisions ."