
Dear ASBA Members,
In December, we celebrated hundreds of outgoing school board members who had finished serving their local district communities. We also welcomed hundreds of new school board members who are just beginning their journey as school board members, anxious and excited to serve in their new elected roles. I hugged and cried with many who said good-bye as well as met with many new and eager faces, all happening at the ASBA-ASA Annual Conference. It reminded me that they all had one thing in common: School board members are elected by their local communities to serve their local communities.

Communities need school boards to be their voice. The more than 1,100 school members representing every school district across Arizona will affirm the needs and challenges of their communities and how different they are from one another. Their decisions are reflective and in response to local needs and circumstances.
School board members are locally elected public officials entrusted with governing a community’s public schools through budget, employee benefits, policy, evaluation of the superintendent and such. These are the components a school board oversees.

Do not forget you represent your communities. ASBA is committed to local control and excellent school board governance. Public service is among the most important responsibilities a citizen can undertake. Who fights for local control each year at the Legislature? ASBA. Who provides school board members with a voice through its advocacy program? ASBA. Which organization brings generational lawsuits to require the state to fund schools according to the Arizona Constitution? ASBA. Which organization is led by school board members and focused solely on supporting community-based governance, local control and public education? ASBA.

We are YOUR association. We represent school board members who represent their communities. Thank you for serving and on behalf of ASBA we want to wish all of you a happy School Board Recognition Month.
Dr. Sheila Harrison-Williams, ASBA Executive Director