Why You Should Run for School Board

        If you’ve ever even thought of running for a public office, there’s an opportunity coming soon that you might want to consider.  Qualifying begins August 20th for the November 4th school board election, and here are some things to think about:
        The only qualification to be a school board member in Central is that you be a resident of the District for a year and have either $230 or a petition signed by 100 voters in your District.  If you have hesitated because you think that you must be a politician, a retired teacher, have a specialized degree, or some other professional experience to run, please reconsider.
    The responsibilities of the school board range from managing a $38 million budget, to building and maintaining multi-million dollar facilities and setting policy on personnel and education issues.  There is a place in this process for any interested citizen.  It is also not a requirement that your children currently attend our schools; in fact, only one of the current seven school board members has a child in the school system.
    So, whether you are an interested parent or taxpayer who believes they can make a difference, or you are a current school board member and feel you are doing a fine job, I hope you will consider qualifying.  Here are a few things we should be looking for in our next school board member:
•    Someone who would always exercise good stewardship of our tax dollars, and understands that the facilities and programs belong to the community.  
•    Someone who will develop a long term facilities plan and, if necessary, ask the taxpayers once and only once to support a tax that should fund our growth for the next 20 years.
•    Someone who will take quick action to address the almost $20 million liability for unfunded retirement costs that will eventually have to be paid.  (This liability increases by millions of dollars each year.)
•    Someone who will find a way to give Central’s teachers their first ever cost of living raise and seek to pay our teachers at least as well as the teachers in other nearby quality school systems. 
•    Someone who will listen to and answer citizens’ and parents’ questions and actively seek ways to involve the public in discussion and in solving problems.
•    Someone who understands the importance of giving the public ample notice for all school board and committee meetings so that the public can see and participate in our board’s decisions regarding spending our tax dollars educating our students.
•    Someone who will always put the best interests of the students and the taxpayers ahead of politics, and who would not hesitate to ask tough questions challenging “the system” or the status quo.
•    And, someone who not only realizes how blessed we are to have such outstanding schools, but also has a vision for a future where our students excel not only in comparison to neighboring systems, but nationwide.   
    With these qualifications, whether you would be a fresh face with new ideas or are already serving, you would be a great candidate for school board.  Electing seven such people on November 4th would be Good News for a Great City.