 | Dr.Glenn Fortmayer is Superintendent of USD 247 Southeast. He has been a superintendent for four years and administrator for 15 of 23 years in education. He is working with Southeast on initiatives including: expanding student learning opportunities, technology integration, and increasing instruction that authentically engages students every class period of every day with an emphasis on project based learning. For more information call 620-457-8350.
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Education Issues
2013-03-25 16:05:15
Board of education members
Q-In today’s educational environment, who would want to be a school board member?
A-January was the month for filing to run for the board of education. Persons can still run on a write-in basis if they did not register, but time is short, the election is April 2, 2013. Many BOE positions have one candidate running and several do not have any candidates. Patrons have asked why people do not want to run for school boards.
The reasons vary, but some common themes are present. The first is that many who consider running are already active in their schools, community, and with their families and careers. They fear they cannot commit to the additional evening meetings, phone calls, e-mails, and informal meetings that are part of the BOE member’s duties. A second theme is concern about the negativity. Business people fear their businesses being hurt. They and others also fear their relationships with neighbors, friends, and even family members can be hurt. They understand that almost every decision a school board member makes will make some people happy and others angry. The anger sometimes lasts for years after the person is off the board. Another reason that has become a major force against BOE member recruitment is the level of decisions that have to be made. BOE members have always had to make difficult decisions such as whether to terminate an employee, change a curriculum, support an expulsion of a student, or vote for a huge expenditure of funds. Today, the level and frequency of such critical decisions have increased to an almost overwhelming rate. BOE members have to face making reductions in force, restricting pay, cutting student programs, increasing taxes, and reorganizing or closing buildings. Most of the time, these decisions have to be made because there is no other viable choice. They are made to maintain the best service to students if possible, but often they are made to preserve the district. These decisions hurt many people, but are made to protect the majority.
We need to remember that these vital decisions must be made. Thus, we must have BOE members willing to take on the stress, anger, negativity, time commitment and all the challenges related to the positions in order for districts to function. When casting a vote, this April and when a candidate takes the seat in July, appreciate the level of community spirit and courage that person has had to display just to get that far. Then support all the members. We may disagree with their decisions at times, but we have to look deeper into what options did they really have in today’s economy and political climate. BOE members rarely make decisions that are not logical when all the information and options are studied. We need to tell them we appreciate their service just as we tell our law enforcement, emergency service, and military personnel. BOE members sacrifice to serve and lead us through challenges and even conflicts. Support for these increasingly rare people is needed for our system of local control to continue.
Interested students, parents, and patrons should contact their local districts for more information.
