One home project down and a work challenge to face . . .

Well, I was able to reclaim the garage after many years of using it as a storage shed.  Multiple trips to the dump and an investment in some storage containers leaves me with one completely empty bay and most of the second free from clutter.  All I have left is moving out the old freezer and replacing it with a smaller, more efficient new one.  Feels good to have that behind me.

I went back to the office today and had an ad hoc housing committee meeting this evening.  This is the group the board appointed to provide them with options for both short and long term housing options.  We have met multiple times and thus far have identified options for short term housing if we are not able to pass a bond measure before reaching identified capacities.  At the next meeting, staff will provide the committee with information on the pros and cons of the options to assist them in identifying those for recommendation to the board.

The committee is made up of 20+ community members all of whom care deeply for our school system.  Some have worked on previous committees and for others this is their first experience with a district committee.  They are passionate and want a bond measure that meets our needs and will be supported by the voters.  Though strategy and marketing are not the task of the group, it has been very difficult to get them to suspend their assumptions and focus first on finding options for the board's consideration.  The conversations always come back to what impact will it have on the voters.   My experience is reinforcing for me the power of mental models and ladders in influencing our behavior.  I am learning that my facilitation capacity needs to increase to support the group in completing their task.

Next meeting we will also begin to focus specifically on bond measure options that preserve the essence of who we are, but that may include changes to how we house students in grade level groupings.  They will review the work of the previous committee and also consider new configurations and priorities.   I am excited to see what they come up with.  They are a group of bright, caring people with the capacity to find creative options not yet considered.  I challenged them to provide options that make it difficult for the board to decide.  I need to identify strategies that result in them suspending assumptions, valuing the diversity of experiences and beliefs in the room, and being open to being influenced by their fellow committee members.  Easy to say, difficult to accomplish.  I have some work to do to meet this challenge.