NORTHFIELD — Four Pioneer Valley Regional School District School Committee members volunteered during a Thursday meeting to establish meeting norms to help the committee better work together.
The idea arose from a district leaders workshop, whereby committee members were presented with a Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) packet titled “Protocols and Best Practices For Effective School Committee Meetings.” The workshop inspired School Committee members to want to establish meeting norms personalized to Pioneer that would encourage order, productivity and civility based on the MASC’s guidelines.
School Committee members Debra Gilbert, Jeanne Milton, Sharon Fontaine and Robin L’Etoile volunteered to establish the norms, with Superintendent Ruth Miller agreeing to meet with the four as well.
Miller hoped a document outlining Pioneer’s meeting norms wouldn’t be left on a desk and forgotten, but that the norms would be thoroughly practiced.
“You as board members, it’s your responsibility to look at the norms and remind some people to look at these norms,” she said. “It’s going to take a little more process.”