Hold school board members accountable
Have you ever wondered how your local school board should operate?
According to Pennsylvania law, a school board is to consist of nine members who have been elected by the citizens of the district. These members should elect officers of the board, such as president and vice president. Again, according to the law, the board president should run the meeting.
I recently attended the monthly meeting of my district’s school board, and was shocked to discover that the district’s solicitor, who is not a member of the board and was not elected by district’s citizens, has been given control of the meeting. It was the solicitor who decided what would or would not be discussed. It was the solicitor who dictated who could or could not speak. It was the solicitor who even controlled who could be present in the audience. And our board president? He just sat there.
Either the solicitor has usurped the board’s authority, or the board leadership has abdicated its authority. And what should the district’s citizens do? We should hold our elected board members accountable. We should demand that our board leaders re-establish their authority over nonmembers sitting at the table. If the current board leaders are unwilling or incapable of doing so, then we should demand that they resign from those positions and let other members who are trying to fulfill their duties as representatives of the citizens regain control of the school board.
How do we hold our board members accountable? Be present at the board meetings. That’s where I’ll be.
Zonie Shingle Jackson
Claysville