Local school board filing period opens
Becky Albrecht
On Tuesday of this week, schools across the state entered the window for local board of education filings.
Board filing is an annual event, occurring this school year between Dec. 15 and Jan. 19.
Those who file will appear as candidates on the April ballot, when local board members are determined by public vote to serve terms of not more than three years.
To provide oversight to these local boards of education and public school districts in general, Missouri also has a State Board of Education.
Because the state board’s decisions have such an impact on local boards and educational practices, it is important to understand how the state board is organized and what its responsibilities are.
The State Board of Education provides direction for all Missouri public schools from preschools, through K-12 schools, adult learning programs, and to higher education institutions.
It is responsible for many things such as appointing the Commissioner of Education, setting the policies for Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, defining academic performance standards, determining assessments policies, establishing requirements for teacher certification, accrediting K-12 grade schools, operating state schools (Missouri School for the Blind, Missouri. School for the Deaf, and Missouri Schools for the Severely Disabled), overseeing and distributing federal educational funds, and making budget recommendations to the legislature.
The governor appoints, and the Senate confirms, eight members to serve on the state board for terms of eight years. To prevent mass turnover, these terms are staggered so only one state board member’s term expires annually.
Each member of the state board must be a resident of a different county and represent a different congressional district.
To further promote political equity, a person serving as a state board member must represent only one political party, and no more than four members can belong to the same party. The board elects its own officers and meets once a month, at minimum, in Jefferson City. Unlike local board of education members, state board members receive compensation for these official meetings — $25.
Charlie Shields, St. Joseph, currently serves as the president of the state board. Other members include Victor Lenz, Peter Herschend, Russel Still, Michael Jones, Joe Driskill, John Martin, and Maynard Wallace.
These men have a wide variety of professional backgrounds ranging from education to business to politics, and many have served on local school boards for before State Board of Education appointment.
Currently, these board members are hearing comments from work groups making recommendations on the new state academic standards.
State law requires new standards be approved by the state board for the 2016-2017 school year. Their decision is expected to come in March, 2016. This decision will impact each public school student in the state, as it will influence what is actually taught in classrooms.
If you are interested in agendas and minutes of State Board of Education meetings or progress on the adoption of the new academic standards, you can find information on the DESE website: www.dese.mo.gov.
If you are interested in the operations of our local board of education, summaries of its meetings can be found on our school website: www.maryville.k12.mo.us. Click on the central office tab and select board meeting summaries from the dropdown menu.
