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School board members were torn Thursday night in deciding which level of communication with parents and community members was the right level and which level was wasting time.

"I would think we could communicate at 100 percent and have zero percent effectiveness," Assistant Superintendent Joel Sheridan said. "It's like cooking for people who aren't hungry. I just wish we knew what we were targeting."

Board members work each month to refine a certain goal area. This month, that goal was communication.

"We need to look at how we can enhance communication within the schools and in the community," Superintendent Pete Bergmann said.

The district completed its 2003-2004 goals of issuing parent surveys and upgrading its Web site.

"We're amazed at how valuable a tool (the Web site) is and how much it's utilized," Bergmann said.

Enhancing that tool is a district goal. The site will be upgraded within two months, and residents will be able to search, by keyword, school district policies, investigate specific curriculums and get up-to-date information about individual schools.

Goals that weren't completed topped the list of Thursday's discussion items, particularly whether the school board should travel to Maybell and Dinosaur for meetings.

That was a goal last year that the board did not accomplish.

Board president John Wellman said it was difficult to ask staff members scheduled to give reports to travel to do so. It was suggested that the board offer to hold a special meeting in Maybell if the residents had specific items to address.

In Dinosaur, board members will ask to attend a meeting of the Dinosaur Community Charter School.

Another of last year's goals was for each board member to attend a Parent Advisory Committee meeting at each school.

That goal was eliminated this year.

"Attending all the PAC meetings isn't realistic," board member JoAnn Baxter said.

She suggested that board members make it a priority to attend all PAC meetings to which they were invited to discuss a particular issue.

Suggested communication strategies included purchasing an electronic signboard that advertised school-sponsored events, allowing residents to provide feedback via the Web site and establishing a hotline for people to express their worries or suggest topics to address.

Christina M. Currie can be reached at 824-7031, ext. 210, or ccurrie@craigdailypress.com.