Investing in Your Board is Investing in Your Students
Lon Garrison, AASB Executive Director
While the thought of investing in the stock market today feels extremely risky, there is one investment that will return handsomely and provide benefits that can change lives! It is investing in yourselves as school board members.
Are you ready to invest in becoming the best school board member you can be? Do you want to help your students achieve success in school and life? Do you take your role as a school board member seriously? Is being an active, effective advocate for public education and student achievement a priority to you? Are you willing to invest in your board and make a difference?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you are a board member who understands that investing in the growth and development of yourself and your board is an investment in the students you serve.
Unfortunately, we often see that not all board members share this dedication and commitment to their students or constituency. Many board members are missing meetings, workshops, or opportunities for board training. There is often less of a sense of teamwork versus the mentality of “I already know what is best” and “we don’t need to spend resources on us; it should go to the schools.” The fact is, school boards are an integral part of the American public school system, and when we don’t maintain all aspects of the system, it is the “weakest link” that usually fails and creates chaos or disruption. Your students can’t afford that.
As a locally elected or appointed school board member, you are committed to being willing to serve on behalf of your local community in a governance role within the public education system. You are as necessary for the system to succeed as any district employee, and your community relies on you to represent them. Your reliable, active, and knowledgeable participation are just as important as knowing that the superintendent shows up daily to work.
At AASB, we know this takes work, time, resources, and dedication. That is why we are here. We want you to succeed in your role and help you improve the school system for all your students. Our primary purpose can be found in our mission statement, and it drives everything we do:
To advocate for children and youth by assisting school boards in providing quality public education, focused on student achievement, through effective local governance.
Here are some great ways for you or your board to consider investing in your job as a School board member and elected official:
- Board Development opportunities – Webinars, virtual or in-person workshops, reference materials, board self-evaluations, superintendent evaluations, strategic planning, and more!
- AASB Conferences and Academies – Fall, winter, and spring boardmanship academies, the Annual Conference (November).
- Conditions for Learning – Support for school staff, students, families, communities, and the board to help understand and create processes and frameworks to support student success. This is work unique to AASB and supported primarily through grant funding.
- To recognize the boards and board members that have invested in their growth and achievements, AASB has several award opportunities. The Carl Rose Boardsmanship Awards Program tracks each board member’s attendance and participation in board development opportunities, including those outside AASB, such as the NSBA national conference. Three levels of boardmanship are recognized, Basic, Excellence, and Master. The Carl Rose Governance Award recognizes a school board member each year that best exhibits a dedication and body of work supporting public schools.
Are you willing to be committed to doing what it takes to improve student achievement? Will you invest your time and resources to serving the public that elected you? Only through this conscious practice of investing in board members across Alaska can we hope to achieve the mission of AASB.
We at AASB are your “investment” professionals who can help you become the best board member and school board you can be. WE ARE HERE FOR YOU!
Lon Garrison
Executive Director, AASB