Would You Like a Seat?

As you may already know, there is a vacant West Hempstead Board of Education Trustee seat. As I understand it, Superintendent John Hogan has been tasked with looking for interested residents, so if you are interested, please give him a call. But before you do, you may wish to take a moment and try to understand what is involved with being a volunteer on the Board of Education.

The individual who does want to sit on the West Hempstead Board of Education should first consider the following roles and responsibilities as outlined by the NYS School Board Association.

"The major roles are to be a: 1) Representative of the entire community 2) Steward of the district's resources 3) Leader of the district 4) Advocate for public education                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

The major responsibilities are to: 1) Set the District's Direction -drawing upon the community, the board describes a shared vision, and established goals, standards and strategy to transform vision into reality 2) Ensure Alignment - of strategy, resources, policies, programs, and processes with district goals 3) Assess & Account for Progress - using comprehensive data, thorough deliberation, and open communication 4) Continuously Improve - the district - accentuating and reinforcing the positive, and correcting the negative"

The above is a great overview, but let’s look at some of the things I have personally witnessed over the past two years or so. Trustees put in long volunteered hours and may meet at various times of the day and night. They attend functions and seemingly are “always on” for questions and comments. (Some of the comments are not always nice.) Individuals considering the seat probably will work from home, work nearby, or be retired and have very flexible hours. Individuals must also become familiar with many various terms, contracts, policies, technologies, meeting rules, budget items, etc...

Trustees may also disagree with another Trustee’s view and sometimes this causes tension and stress. Further, the 2011-2012 budget looks to be very challenging in light of the current economy and recent New York State legislation.

The point I wish to make is…it is not expected to be easy in the foreseeable future if you wish to be a West Hempstead Board of Education Trustee.

So...Would You Like a Seat?

Thanks for taking the time to read this blog. I hope to encourage further thoughts, and ideas so please feel free to comment below. My next blog will look at the three current options for the vacant seat, so please check back to the Patch again soon.

Take care and see you around town.

Manny