Superintendents promoting school board training
Published 4:41 am Wednesday, August 23, 2006
By By ANDY HAMILTON / Niles Daily Star
NILES - There are more than 100 school board members who served in Berrien County last year.
Of those, 26 were certified by the Michigan Association of School Boards and another 18 participated in a MASB class or conference during the 2005-2006 school year.
Rider said most of the board members serving the Brandywine district have been certified by MASB or are in the process of completing courses by the organization.
Superintendent of Niles Community Schools Doug Law said only a few school board members in the district have taken training courses.
A survey commissioned by the MASB and conducted by Anchor Associates recently found a majority - 80 percent -
of 600 Michigan voters said they think training is necessary once board members are elected. The education is important to ensure board members can properly serve the district under the law, the respondents said.
Another 66 percent of those surveyed said they believe board members should be required to attend training for their position. Plus, 62 percent said they would be more likely to vote for a school board candidate if he or she has taken some sort of formal training or professional development classes.
The survey questioned 300 males and 300 females. The majority of those surveyed - 164 people or 27 percent - were age 65 and over. Ages 45 to 54 accounted for 141 of the respondents, or 24 percent.
More than half of the people surveyed - 52 percent - had children that had already graduated from school. Another 29 percent had children currently enrolled in school.
Kathy Hayes, co-director of leadership development at MASB, said student success, decision making and even district finances can all be improved with school board training.
Michigan had a total of 4,161 active MASB school board members in 2005-2006. Exactly 1,058 of those, or 25 percent, participated in some type of MASB training, including boardsmanship classes, conferences and workshops.
About 1,001 of active school board members, or 24 percent, have received at least 30 hours of MASB training. According to the MASB, these figures account for a 5 percent increase in board training from last year.
Dennis Hinsey, who was elected to the Brandywine board of education in July 2005, said the MASB classes he has participated in focus on balancing a budget, dealing with the public and public issues, hiring a superintendent and policymaking.
He said he takes a MASB training course when they are available in the area. Some classes have required trips to Lansing and Grand Rapids while others were hosted at the Berrien County Intermediate School District in Berrien Springs, Hinsey said.
Rider said the district covers the cost of the classes, which are usually about $75 to $85 each. But, the cost and travel time are small prices to pay for an educated school board.