School Board members are 'dedicated to children'
Editor:
Our system of local control of education is called the Board of Education.
School board members are local citizens elected by their community to control and manage the public schools. This system exemplifies local citizen control and decision-making in education. School board members volunteer hundreds of hours of personal time and an immeasurable amount of energy to assure that our schools are providing the best education possible for the children of our community.
Here are some reasons we are taking this opportunity to show them our appreciation during School Board Appreciation Week in Georgia, March 14-18:
School board members are citizens whose decisions affect our children. They make decisions about the direction the school system is heading. They must also make the hard decisions about budgetary matters that also affect the community, such as new building construction or renovations, additional personnel, or enhancements to the curriculum.
These are men and women who set the vision for the public school system and set policy that provides the framework for operations. They represent -- as a board -- the total community. They must attend numerous, often lengthy meetings that are sometimes fulfilling and sometimes contentious. They also must, by law, attend annual training sessions so that they are informed board members and stay current on educational issues.
Our school board is one of 180 in Georgia. Because each community elects its own board members, each board represents the community's unique needs with respect to its school system.
Too often we forget that these men and women are our neighbors and community members. Most school board members have full time jobs outside of being a school board member. We need to take a moment during this week to say, "Thank you" to our school board members.
I'd like to publicly say thank you to our local board members. They are dedicated to the children enrolled in our school system and to the community as a whole. We applaud them for setting the vision for our public schools.
Tommy Price
Superintendent , Columbia County Board of Education