Though I don't always agree with them, I certainly respect and appreciate their dedication. And now you could be one. All it requires is a willingness:
- to always have some constituency disagreeing with your choices and actions. (ie second guessing you)
- to stay awake occasionally wondering which class size you should increase or program you should cut.
- to appear agreeable enough so that a majority of people will vote for you
I thought it would be a relatively easy position after the levy passed, the Supt was selected and the facility decision was made. Unfortunately I think the state's funding delinquency is going to keep the position one challenging ride....
I'll be very interested in seeing if positive SMART platforms are raised, or if it will be an exercise in bashing the incumbents. Stay tuned...
Anybody know how and how much these folks are compensated? Comments welcome
6 comments:
School board members make around $5K a year. Not much for the amount of time it involves.
Any chance of you running John?
Not for at least 10 yrs...
I've currently got one of those 10+ hr a day jobs, a travel schedule and 3 kids still in lots of activities.
I would love the interaction and challenge, however I don't think I could squeeze it in. Maybe someday...
Besides my pragmatic RAS platform probably challenges the sensibilities of both conservatives and liberals... Who would vote for someone that supports raising taxes and cutting programs...
That's the trouble, time. The District probably has several hundred capable candidates, the vast majority of whom cannot afford the time - or the pay cut.
I will say this, though: some board members don't seem to realize that some of those long hours spent are of their own making.
R-Five, I assume you mean the length of the school board meetings, and I agree. They are WAY too long.
My guess we are discussing more than just the meetings.
As I have watched for the past 6 months, I have been fascinated at the detail level the board operates at.. I am not sure what the specific administration and board roles and responsibilities are, however it sure seems the board is involved in too many decisions that should be the administrations.
Maybe Stan and the Admin were not achieving results or communicating their plan, or maybe members liked to micromanage... Either way I think the board needs to spend more time figuring out what they want from the district in specific measureable results. Then they need to hold the admin accountable to meeting the goals.
I believe this is how most business boards operate. It would also shorten the meetings, and maybe more folks would be willing to attend. (ie not pulled into the minutia of RAS operations)
Learning to set clear expectations, delegate, support and hold employees accountable without micromanaging is one of the hardest things for managers to learn. And many never do... I hope the board members can, it would make their job much more enjoyable, and probably improve results.
After some reflection and with my renewed attempt to be softer spoken and give credit where credit is due. The last few years have been a bear for RAS and the board, and many of the itmes could not be delegated very well. They proactively did take on the extra work and made things happen.
So, though I think you could do things differently. I sincerely thank the board members for what they have done !!!
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