PHOTO COURTESY OF HERMISTON SCHOOL DISTRICT
They volunteer their time while helping our student succeed, yet their work goes largely unnoticed. That will change this month as the Hermiston School District joins 196 school districts throughout Oregon in celebrating January as “School Board Recognition Month.”
“Our school board members spend countless hours of unpaid time working to provide the best possible education for our students,” said Hermiston School District Superintendent Dr. Fred Maiocco. “They also serve as the corporate board of directors for one of our community’s largest employers. Celebrating School Board Recognition Month is one way to say thanks for all they do.”
School board members represent their fellow citizens’ views and priorities in the complex enterprise of maintaining and running the community’s public schools. They also reinforce the principle of local control over public education, which is an important, highly-valued aspect of education in Oregon.
The board’s main goal is to support student achievement. To achieve this goal, the board focuses on the following needs:
• Creating a vision for what parents and citizens want their school district to become and how to make student achievement the top priority
• Setting standards for what students must learn and be able to do
• Assessing whether schools achieve their goals, and whether students are learning
• Accounting for the outcomes of decisions and by tracking progress and reporting results
• Aligning the use of the district’s human and financial resources
• Creating a safe and orderly climate where students can learn and teachers can teach
• Collaborating to solve common problems and to support common successes
• Focusing on continuous improvement by questioning, examining, revising, refining and revisiting issues related to student achievement.
During the month of January, each board member is recognized by a school within the district. Buildings are creative in how they highlight the board, but members may be recognized at a student body assembly, have lunch with students, or have bulletin boards and decorations hung in their honor.
The district administration will acknowledges the board at its Jan. 13 meeting, where Maiocco will proclaim January as School Board Recognition Month and hold a social to honor them.
“Even though we are making a special effort during January to show appreciation for our school board members, we recognize their contributions reflect a year-round effort on their part,” said Maiocco. “Too often their efforts go unrecognized.”
