Celebrating School Board Recognition Month

January is a time to appreciate the governance work that supports public schools

January is School Board Recognition Month, a time to salute the more than 5,000 California school district and county office of education board members — the largest group of elected officials in the state — that aid in supporting student success by establishing their local educational agency’s mission, vision, policy priorities, budget and benchmarks.

From the first public school house in an old church in San Francisco in 1850, boards of education have grown to oversee more than 1,000 school districts and county offices of education in California. From the eight students in El Dorado County’s Indian Diggings Elementary School District to the nearly 530,000 students in the Los Angeles Unified School District, trustees provide crucial support for California’s 6 million public school students.

Trustees provide a critical accountability link between schools and the community and offer a level of accessibility to voters that is unrivaled by other public officeholders. CSBA encourages LEAs, community organizations, mayors and other local officials to designate January as a time to recognize their hard-working board members and educate the public about the important role that school boards play in schools and communities.

This January, CSBA is making it easier than ever to recognize the hard work and dedication of your board of education by providing a sample press release to get the word out to local reporters, a sample proclamation for city officials and a social media toolkit to show appreciation for the LEA’s board of education. Board members are encouraged to share these resources with communications contacts in their LEAs.

“School district and county board members accept a level of responsibility and accountability to the public that is unique among American public officials. Given the enormity of the job they’re asked to do, it’s only appropriate to salute school board of education trustees during National School Board Recognition Month — and to assist their essential work all year long,” said CSBA CEO & Executive Director Vernon M. Billy. “Our support is more critical than ever as trustees face a confluence of political, policy and financial challenges that oftentimes complicate their efforts to improve student academic success. Despite these types of challenges, we see boards rise to the challenge over and over again, making the important governance decisions that improve our education system.”

Through initiatives like this, the What’s Your Why? video series, board member profiles and more, CSBA recognizes and celebrates the crucial work of boards of education in supporting the conditions for student success.

Access the materials at csba.pub/school-board-recognition-month.