It is an incredible privilege to serve as your 2025 CSBA President, a role that serves as one of the crowning achievements of my career. It was the pursuit of an education and the possibilities it offers that took me from a small, country town in Arkansas to a four-year university, and eventually, to a long and enjoyable career in public schools.

My career includes time as a classroom teacher, counselor, dean of students, assistant principal and principal. For more than a decade, I have been a strong advocate for CSBA and even as President, I remain a servant-leader, committed to being in the trenches and doing the day-to-day work.

As someone who has experienced the school system as a student, educator and parent, I have a well-rounded perspective on public education and the relationship between a good school board and student success. So I am thrilled that my first column as CSBA President coincided with National School Board Recognition Month. I would argue that our society should celebrate local educational agency boards all year round, but the least we can do is set aside one month to elevate the accomplishments of these governing bodies.

Contrary to what some constituents might suggest, being a school trustee is an extremely demanding job, if you do it right, and I want to join the chorus of voices saying, “Job well done!” I am grateful for the sacrifices and contributions you make to support students and strengthen public schools. Your accomplishments set the stage for our children’s success and are absolutely critical, even when your work goes unheralded. Never doubt that for a moment!

Belief in yourself, your colleagues and your students is essential to providing every student with a high-quality education that helps them realize their full potential. The challenges facing schools are complex and fluid, so as leaders we need to be “all in.” There’s no room for wavering in our commitment. Education systems must shift quickly to meet the needs of every child from cradle to career, and school board members must guide those systems in the proper direction. It is a difficult task and there are no shortcuts and no magic formulas. Only vision, hard work and commitment will produce the conditions and outcomes we desire for our children.

If we hope to produce enthusiastic and capable learners, we must first understand the root causes of the issues confronting our LEAs. Next, we must recognize the numerous ways in which these issues manifest and devise strategies to address them. Then, we must rise to the challenge of overcoming these hurdles with a personal passion. And finally, we must motivate our colleagues and other stakeholders toward a common vision of outstanding education.

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. — another leader who receives recognition this month — said it best when he stated, “A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus, but a molder of consensus.” As school trustees, we must be brave enough to sort through adult disagreements and find common ground that benefits the children we serve. This is the central task for school trustees.

In that same vein, CSBA’s mission statement says, “Strong local boards of education are essential to ensure a high-quality education for every student in every community.” We can never lose sight of universal, high-quality education as the “why” behind the work we do every day. I am driven to ensure that every child has access to a solid education, that we all benefit from a well-educated populace, that public education serves as a great equalizer, and that we execute our moral duty to better ourselves and our students in all aspects of their lives. These principles provide a model for the work of school board members as we strive to support all students — whether or not we receive recognition.