School board members are attending trainings to stay up to date and learn about new topics.
Experienced members and new members have to attend different numbers of hours.
“A new member’s first year usually adds up to somewhere around 22 hours,” Superintendent C.D. Knobloch said. “After that, an experienced member normally receives up to 10-12 hours per year.”
School board member Tommy Keeter said he has done several hours of training this year.
“Most of the training was on legislative updates and educating school board members on new laws,” Keeter said. “The new laws we have are handed down to our school district by Texas legislators.”
School board member Mike Gilmore said he has trained on multiple topics this year.
“Some of the training I have done include bullying, child abuse, youth suicide and more,” Gilmore said. “I’m not sure that I’ve learned to do things differently but I do feel like the training keeps these important subjects at the forefront of my thoughts when making decisions that impact our school.”
Knobloch said that the trainings are useful for the school board members.
“Board members learn about budgeting process, school safety laws and regulations,” Knobloch said.
“These things all apply to public schools and our state accountability system.”
Keeter said that some of the trainings aren’t covering the main topics they need to talk about for the school.
“Honestly the majority of the training that is required I don’t feel like is very important for our district,” Keeter said. “There is a good amount of it that is important that I’m glad to get.”
Knobloch said that some trainings are coached by different people.
“Some training is local and some are at Region IX in Wichita Falls,” Knobloch said. “Members can always get training from the Texas Association of School Boards website or they can attend a board convention.”
Gilmore said that the people who train the school board do great at their jobs.
“As our society changes and is presented with different challenges, they know how to train us well,” Gilmore said. “They stay on top of topics that keep our school safe and operating at a high level.”
Knobloch said that each member on the school board becomes better with experience.”
“Each year a member serves on the board, they learn more information,” Knobloch said. “They increase their skills on teamwork and decision making.”
School board member Jacie Ferguson said she likes the people who train her.
“They are always helpful and offer their contact information if you have any further questions,” she said.
