According to the website executive-advisory.com, school board members spend an average of 40 days per year working for the benefit of their students and their schools. This past year, however, school board members had an especially challenging task of leading through a pandemic. In addition to budgets and policies, they had to make difficult decisions about COVID rules, COVID tracking, PPE supplies, to play or not to play sports, and the list goes on. Every decision they made they knew would impact the health and safety of students, teachers, and staff alike.
Because of this, the Iowa Association of School Boards has marked this year’s School Board Month as: “School Boards: Leading Through Uncharted Waters” as communities around the nation are encouraged to pay tribute to these volunteers for their perseverance and leadership through the pandemic.
“Leadership at the board table has come with challenges we never anticipated…there’s never been a more important yet trying time to be on a school board and impact the future of our students,” said IASB Board President Jim Green in a released statement.
Eagle Grove School Board members for the 2020 – 2021 school year include: Tracy Crail, Elaine Schope, Jon Rowen, Dr. Aaron Parrott, and Darren Robinson.
“I have been blessed to work with some great Board members while at Eagle Grove. The job is voluntary and not always easy, so any recognition they get is well deserved,” said Eagle Grove School Superintendent Jess Toliver.
There are more than 2,000 locally elected school board members in the state of Iowa. In total, they oversee $5.96 billion in Iowa public school funding for nearly 500,000 students. When you see Eagle Grove’s members, please take a few minutes to thank them for their selfless service, especially this year, because not only were they navigating COVID in their own lives at home, they were navigating the uncharted waters for an entire school district with a sea of kids.
School Board members – Thank you! Your dedication and leadership is truly appreciated.
