South Bend Board recognized as State Board of the Year

From Left Directors Dave Eastham, Todd Strozyk, Steve Rogers, Chuck Spoor, Andy Seaman

South Bend School District's Board of Directors was named a Board of Distinction and subsequently 2018 State Board of the Year at the annual WSSDA (Washington State School Directors Association) Conference in late November.  The board was recognized at their latest meeting in January in conjunction with Board Appreciation month as proclaimed by Governor Jay Inslee.

The Boards of Distinction recognition program awards school boards that demonstrate alignment with the Washington School Board Standards. Any board that applies is eligible to become a Board of Distinction if they meet certain scoring criteria. The top scoring boards in small, medium and large sized school districts may be honored as Boards of the Year.

Board of the Year judges recognized the South Bend board for demonstrated willingness to listen to staff, review data, and make decisions in order to bring about positive change.  Among other outcomes, this led to the adoption of new curriculum in South Bend, supports for ELL (English Language Learner) students, and hiring a school social worker for the elementary school to implement evidence based programming to address barriers to successful learning.

In addition, South Bend school directors were honored for their work in providing high quality facilities.  This work (beginning in 2016) resulted in the district's ability to replace the aged Chauncey Davis Elementary School, through securing state capital budget funding and the overwhelming passage of a $4.95 million dollar capital project bond last April, 2018.  The project is slated to break ground Spring, 2019.

South Bend board members have tremendous experience in working with the public (two board members are current police chiefs, one a fire chief, one a county employee, and one a retired school teacher, principal, and county commissioner).  The knowledge they bring from their careers to their role as school directors is extremely beneficial, and provides a solid grounding for the work they do on the board.  

As superintendent, it is a privilege to work with a board who understands and acts on the responsibility of providing for the needs of students.  In working with our board these last five years, they have not wavered in their goal of putting students first and working to ensure students have a positive educational experience.