By Shannon Kimball
KASB President
Lawrence USD 497
The start of the new year and the new semester coincides with an opportunity for new (or renewed) resolve and fresh perspectives on the many opportunities and challenges facing our students and our schools.
My local board welcomed three new members at our first January board meeting — I am excited to work with them, learn from them, and add their talents, knowledge, and perspectives to our work together. My district stands to benefit greatly from the experiences and perspectives of these new board members. I look forward to seeing where their fresh resolve takes us.
In turn, I am a mentor for one of the new board members. I will be sharing with her what I hope are helpful lessons learned from my years of service, including the importance of building a positive board culture that encourages professional learning and advocacy, and introducing her to the many resources available through KASB to support her in this new role.
As the 2020 legislative session ramps up, we will need renewed resolve and the knowledge we gain from new voices on our boards to inform and continue our advocacy in support of public schools with the same intensity that we have seen over the past several years. Now is not the time to relax.
I am entering this legislative season with less worry about constitutional funding than in years past, but with fresh concerns over whether the conversation sparked by the Legislative Post Audit report on at-risk funding will become a proxy for continuing efforts to pull back from court-approved funding commitments.
I would like to center my own advocacy efforts around other issues, such as the myriad challenges my own district faces in providing adequate supports for students’ social, emotional, and mental health needs. But I recognize that new restrictions on at-risk funds could completely upturn the balance of our current district budget and, in reality, make it even harder for our teachers and staff to meet the needs of our students when their needs are perhaps at their most severe.
So, I will be watching closely the committee hearings and other information that comes out of Topeka about the at-risk audit, and I encourage you to do the same. I also encourage you to speak up loudly and often on the legislative issues that could impact your students. Your voices and your perspectives—returning and newly-minted board members alike—need to be heard in the Capitol. Take advantage of the resources that KASB provides to support this work.
School Board Recognition Month
In January, we celebrated School Board Recognition month with a proclamation by Governor Laura Kelly highlighting “the dedication and commitment of local school board members” and calling on all Kansans to “join in working for a public education system that meets the needs of our state’s children today and in the future.” Many new faces answered that call for the first time this past month, as boards welcomed newly sworn-in board members to their ranks.
My thanks to Governor Kelly for recognizing and honoring the volunteer work of local school board members, and to all in our communities who have stepped up to serve and support our public schools. I look forward to seeing what we can do together this legislative session to bring experience and new perspectives to the table, and to answer Governor Kelly’s call with enthusiasm for the great work that happens in each of our districts every day.
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