On Tuesday, Feb. 28, the two boards of directors of Lopez Island School District and Shaw Island School District held a joint Special School Board Meeting at Lopez School. In attendance were board directors from both school districts, Lopez Superintendent Bill Evans, Shaw Superintendent Rob Patterman, Lopez Principal Lisa Shelby, and Lopez Finance Director Joan Love.
The two school boards were presented with information about a recently enacted new law, and its complementary rules and regulations, for evaluating teachers and principals. Leading the presentation was guest speaker Kathy Shoop, from Northwest Educational Service District 189, a service branch of the Office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Shoop is leading efforts of the Northwest Educational Service District to assist local districts in learning about, and eventually implementing, the new teacher/principal evaluation system that was enacted by the 2010 Washington State Legislature.
The details of the new evaluation system are currently being debated and considered by the 2012 Legislature, including debate on when to begin to require all districts in the state to implement the new system. Designed as a comprehensive tool for evaluating teachers and principals, the participants in this joint school board meeting learned that the new system is currently being piloted by select districts around the state, with state-wide implementation likely to required in school year 2013-14 or 2014-15.
The purpose of this joint meeting of the two school boards was not only to learn more about the new evaluation system, but also to begin exploring the feasibility and potential mutual benefits of developing a collaborative relationship between the two neighboring districts. Shaw Island School serves students kindergarten through eighth grade, and their high school aged students often choose neighboring island high schools for their high school years. This year five Shaw students are choosing to attend Lopez High School as their high school. The two districts and their representative school boards are committed to working together to enhance the educational opportunities for those students and others who may choose to attend Lopez in the future. The two districts are also committed to exploring possible collaborative opportunities to maximize resources, in consideration of ongoing efforts toward efficient and effective use of state and local educational funding.
Superintendents Evans and Patterman will be looking at calendars to plan possible future opportunities for sharing and collaboration between the two school boards.
