The sole purpose of a School Board is driving student outcomes which prepares them for successful lives.  As elected officials, School Board members report to us, the residents of Northumberland County, to represent our wishes and views related to the education of our students.

At the beginning of each calendar year, the School Board elects a Chair and Vice Chair. In this year of change, we believe it’s time for us to weigh in on who should be the School Board Chair.

Many substantial and important events have occurred in the past two years. The establishment of a Joint Finance Committee, the new Finance Director, sense being made of the money that has been poured into the system, transparency/detail beyond what we might have even asked for and a Superintendent who not only understands the numbers, but is seemingly dedicated to ensuring that money is used to benefit students. In other words, it looks like the schools’ financial debacles are being professionally addressed.

Now that the finances are being addressed, it’s time to move to students, outcomes and intelligent planning for the future. Getting the school’s finances under control didn’t happen overnight, and redirecting the school board focus will be no different. Change is not easy for any organization or its employees and cooperative leadership in the chair position will go a long way to ease the transition.

In this year of change, we think that it is important for you to weigh in on who you believe should chair the School Board. Who is most likely to direct resources toward activities and policies that will directly benefit students and has the administrative, team building and analytical skills required to take on manage and direct that task?

We have developed a two question multiple choice ‘ballot’ so you can weigh in. Please share with your friends and family – the ballot will close on Monday morning so we have time to share the results with board members before they vote on Monday evening at the regular School Board meeting. One computer, one vote.  If you are feeling frisky and would like to send a note directly to your representative, board member contact information is on the school web site: https://www.nucps.net/page/school-board-members