On Monday, February 27, a Board of Education Committee of the Whole meeting will be held at 7:00pm in the Shepard Middle School Library Media Center. This Committee of the Whole meeting is being held to provide the Board the opportunity to hear about and discuss the findings of parent and staff meetings and staff surveys, Board of Education meeting community input, and other related feedback. The discussion also will include suggestions for improvements to special education programming both short and long term.

Committee of the Whole meetings are different from regular Board of Education meetings in that they are focused on one specific topic and are designed to allow the Board an opportunity to gain a more in-depth picture. There is no action taken at Committee of Whole meetings; the procedure and agenda are that of a working meeting. Committee of the Whole meetings follow open meeting procedures and have a set agenda; Monday's agenda is posted online.

Unlike Board of Education meetings that offer two opportunities for community participation, Committee of the Whole meetings offer one opportunity at the end of the meeting, as will be the case for the February 27 meeting. Board members will ask questions and have discussion throughout the presentation. Questions and comments raised by parents during previous board meetings may be addressed directly by the presentation itself, or by the discussion of the Board. Additionally, all parent questions have been collected and reviewed. Child-specific questions have been answered in direct conversations with parents. The broad array of general questions that have been asked are being organized in a Frequency Asked Questions to be posted on the District's website by next Friday, March 2.