POLAND — A nine-person advisory committee has recommended several ways to address communication problems among the members of the RSU 16 school board, community members and school staff.
The Communication Advisory Committee’s report, presented during Monday’s school board meeting, outlined recommendations in three key areas: work environment and culture, community engagement and board governance.
It recommended, among other things, that the Poland, Minot and Mechanic Falls school system:
• Create a process to follow for staff who have exhausted the chain of command but still have a problem;
• Implement electronic exit interviews to encourage more employees to complete them;
• Update the school system’s website;
• Think of new ways to share information with the public;
• Encourage board members to go to more school functions so they can engage more with staff and students.
The committee was formed last fall in the wake of community discontent. Some parents and community members spent months repeatedly telling the board they were angry over Superintendent Tina Meserve’s performance. They later questioned the board’s handling of a report on Meserve by an outside consultant.
The recommendations will now go to the school board’s educational policy committee for consideration.
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