Big Job, No Pay, But Rewarding Work

January is School Board Recognition Month, so lets take a moment to recognize and acknowledge the commitment and good work of our Harbor Springs Public Schools’ Board of Education. Being an elected official of a large and diverse enterprise that oversees the community’s most important and valued resource, our children, is not easy work. Lets review some of the aspects of their challenging role:

• Their most significant responsibility is to appropriately manage the revenues and expenses of the annual 10.9 million dollar budget, particularly during an ongoing state fiscal crisis.
• Being the stewards of the educational hopes and dreams of over 700 HSPS families, many with varying agendas and expectations, is always a challenging task.
• Preparing for and attending numerous daytime and evening meetings. This includes reading and absorbing information from reams of reports and documents.
• Adapting and adjusting their own opinions and positions so there can be consensus made with six other individuals on a single decision or direction.
• Attending board training sessions and workshops to keep abreast of new laws, current trends and educational innovations.
• Regularly listening to and valuing each community and parent concern and then channeling those concerns and issues to school personnel to address and problem solve.
• Attending numerous school functions and events.
• Ensuring that they are able to fulfill both their separate roles as a parent and board member without any conflict of interest or misunderstandings.

As citizen leaders, individual school board members face complex and demanding challenges. Yet few people fully understand the scope and far-reaching implications of board members’ responsibilities. So, this January, join with others throughout our district and state to salute these community servants who provide grassroots governance of public schools. Make a special effort tell each of the following school board members that his or her work has been noticed and truly appreciated.

Rob Fuhrman

Jan McDonald

Jane Burdick

Gary Morse

Laurie Wendland

Tim Davis

John Fischer