Marin IJ Artical about NSBA Conf.

School district spends $7,000 on meeting
Jennifer Gollan
Sausalito educators say a trip to Chicago this week that cost the district $6,900 to $7,500 for three board members and the superintendent was money well spent - even if the district forfeits registration money for a fourth trustee who canceled at the last minute.
The National School Boards Association's Annual Conference at the Lakeside Center at McCormick Place began Saturday and ends today.
"We are here gathering information so we can be intelligent," Sausalito Marin City School District trustee Thomas Clark said from Chicago, where he is attending the conference with board President George Stratigos, trustee Shirley Ann Thornton and the district's new superintendent, Debra Bradley. "There is no other place that you can get an education on being a board member."
Featured speakers at the conference included Colin Powell, the former Army general and secretary of state; conservationist Jane Goodall; historian David McCullough; and workout guru Richard Simmons.
The meeting, which drew 12,000 trustees nationwide this year, offers seminars on everything from academic achievement to preschool policies.
A spot check by the Independent Journal indicated that no trustee from several other Marin districts - including San Rafael City Schools, Tamalpais Union, Novato Unified, Mill Valley, Bolinas-Stinson, Dixie, Kentfield and Lagunitas - attended the conference.
This is the first year that all five Sausalito board members have not attended the conference, Stratigos said.
The district spent $650 to register trustee Robert Fisher for the conference, only to have him cancel at the last minute to be with his elderly mother, Stratigos said.
It is not clear why the district's fifth board member, Whitney Hoyt, did not attend.
Depending on whether Fisher's registration fee is refunded, Stratigos said the district will spend $6,932 to $7,582 for air fare, lodging, meals and transportation for the conference.
Stratigos ticked off conference expenditures for each official:
- Airfare: $300 to Chicago, although Bradley's airfare might cost about $400 because her ticket was booked at the last minute;
- Hotel: $600 for four-nights in a hotel;
- Meals/transportation: $158;
- Conference registration: $650 per person.
"It is normal expenses for a conference," Stratigos said. "The biggest expense is the personal expense of time for board members."
Thornton, reached in Chicago, said that she and her colleagues were "out here as representatives of the school board."
Whether it is networking or learning new techniques to support teachers and enrich students, Thornton said the conference was "very worthwhile."
The Sausalito Marin City School District, is composed of three schools with a total of 250 students, this year earned an Academic Performance Index of 692, the lowest of Marin's traditional school districts.
California's goal for public schools is a score of 800 or higher on the state's API, which is based on a scale of 200 to 1,000.
The district is the top-funded school district in Marin, with per-pupil expenditures of $22,230 in 2004-05, the most recent figures available from the state.
A special fund set up by the district covers several conference and training opportunities for Sausalito trustees each year, although the trustees could not immediately provide the cap on expenses allowed. The district office was closed Monday.
"We want all our staff and all our board members to be up-to-date on education issues so the dialogue can be as rich as possible," Stratigos said.
Contact Jennifer Gollan via e-mail at jgollan@marinij.com