Helen Webb

Biddeford School Board Meeting

For my school board assignment, I viewed a recording of a meeting of the

Biddeford School Board that took place last spring. In attendance were Mayor Joanne
Tromley, Superintendent Sarah-Jane Poli, 6 out of 7 committee members and 1 of 2
student representatives. There were also ten or so members of the community.
To my astonishment, the first topic brought up during public participation was an
invitation to a National Day of Prayer event. The presenter went on in some detail
describing the event and its significance. He went on to give a history of the National
Day of Prayer and even described the agenda and the bodies that would be prayed for.
They will pray for bodies including the government and the news media. Also included
were businesses and education of our children. The mayor let the gentleman complete
his presentation, but then made a statement about the separation between church and state
although he was allowed to practice freedom of expression.
One of the items under New Business was to vote on whether or not to have a
Compensation Day for high school juniors taking the SAT. A representative from
Biddeford High School explained that in Maine, the SATs have been required for juniors
since 2006, and that students who failed to attend on that Saturday would be treated as if
they had cut a day of school. The compensation would be that they would not have school
the following Friday. I was surprised and was interested to find that the SATs were
mandatory for high school juniors and that such an arrangement could be made. I wonder
if students would still be required to pay for the test. Approval was unanimous.

Again, under new business, were a number of building and construction

proposals. I did not realize that the school board is not only responsible for issues
regarding education, but also the maintenance of the school buildings themselves. There
were two issues regarding window replacement, modular classrooms for the high school,
and even a mention of fairy houses built by the primary school students for the new
discovery garden. The committee passed all budget agreements, but the mayor asked that
she be involved in the fairy house construction.
The meeting of the Biddeford School Committee exemplified democracy in that it
gave the public a voice in how our youth are educated. I was impressed by the setup
which provided a podium facing the school board and camera for public comment and
how public participation was a fixed portion of the agenda. It is important that the public
be made aware of issues pertaining to the education of students who will one day have to
participate in society.