The Minnesota School Boards Association has set February as Minnesota School Board Recognition Month to build awareness and understanding of the vital function elected school board members to play in our society. The Crookston School District is joining other public school districts from across the state to celebrate School Board Recognition Month to honor local board members for their commitment to Crookston and its students.
“Strong schools help build strong communities – and the Crookston School Board devotes countless hours to making sure our schools are helping every child learn at a higher level,” Dave Kuehn, Interim Superintendent, said. “School board members make the difficult decisions every month – and spend many hours studying education issues and regulations to provide the kind of accountability our citizens expect.”
Kuehn said the key work of boards is to raise student achievement by:
- Creating a vision for what the community wants the school district to be and for making student achievement the top priority;
- Establishing standards for what students will be expected to learn and be able to do;
- Ensuring progress is measured to be sure the district’s goals are achieved, and students are learning at expected levels;
- Being accountable for their decisions and actions by continually tracking and reporting results;
- Creating a safe, orderly climate where students can learn and teachers can teach;
- Forming partnerships with others in the community to solve common problems; and
- Focusing attention on the need for continuous improvement by questioning, refining, and revising issues related to student achievement.
“Even though we’re making a special effort to show our appreciation this month, school board members’ work is a year-round commitment,” Kuehn said.
School Board members serving our district and their years of service are as follows: Marcia Meine (new), Patti Dillabough (8 years), Mike Theis (3 years), Dave Davidson (6 years), Tim Dufault (12 years) and Frank Fee (14 Years).
