Guest column: Thank you school board members

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By Jim Grubbs, superintendent of Galion City Schools

School board members exemplify local citizen control and decision-making in education. They volunteer hundreds of hours and an immeasurable amount of energy to assure our schools are providing the best education possible for the children of our community.

Here are some reasons we are taking this opportunity to show them our appreciation during School Board Recognition Month in January. School board members are citizens whose decisions affect our children: what they learn, who will teach them and what kinds of facilities house their classrooms. These are men and women elected to establish the policies that provide the framework for our public schools.

They represent you, and they take this responsibility seriously by attending lengthy — sometimes challenging — meetings, conferences and institutes where they broaden their knowledge about education; by taking part in numerous conversations about the schools; and by attending sessions before the Ohio General Assembly.

Our school board is one of more than 700 such boards across the state. These boards enable us to have local control of public schools, meaning that decisions on school programming are made by local, elected representatives who understand the community’s unique problems, values, culture and circumstances. It’s a tradition that began nearly 300 years ago. With the advice and counsel of the educational professionals they hire, our school board has an impact on virtually every aspect of our schools.

It’s a huge responsibility and one that should not be taken lightly.

Too often we neglect to recognize the dedication and hard work of these men and women who represent us. The staff and students of our school district are asking all local citizens to take a moment to tell a school board member “thanks for caring about our children’s education.” So, hats off to the dedicated men and women who make it possible for local citizens to have a say about education in our communities.

We salute the public servants of the Galion City School District whose dedication and civic responsibility make local control of public schools in our community possible. We applaud them for their vision and voice to help shape a better tomorrow. Thank you Mr. Dennis Long (11 years), Mr. Brian Owens (7 years), Mr. Grant Garverick (3 years), Mrs. Debra Donaldson (1 year) and Mr. Mike Mateer (1 year) for your service to the Galion City School District students, staff and the entire Galion community!

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Jim Grubbs is superintendent of Galion City Schools. You can reach him at 419-468-3432 or [email protected],

 

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