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While inclement weather certainly can thwart plans, Luzerne County’s 11 school boards were poised to each hold re-organization meetings at some point this week. Two important things happen at these state-mandated meetings: new and re-elected members are sworn in, and the board picks a president and other officers.
It’s a good time to stop and consider this vital post in our democracy. For starters, it’s critical for critics to remember these are unpaid positions. No salary, no stipend, no pension or insurance. Men and women volunteer their time to be school board members.
Sure there can be all sorts of back scratching, vote swapping and other machinations that get friends or relatives hired, get raises for friends and relatives already hired, get contracts awarded to friends or relatives. But the same can occur in paid positions. And unlike many paid representative seats in local governments —city and borough councils, township supervisors —one or even two votes on a school board won’t get you much when there are nine members. That makes the notion of running for self-aggrandizement in lieu of pay at least a little less plausible considering the time involved.
So as our area boards reset for the new year, a modest proposal to those not on said boards: Give them the benefit of the doubt for at least a few months. Let new members adjust to their new responsibilities, and give a little time for any newly-configured board to work out the kinks of changed people with different personalities and perhaps different priorities.
That said, the onus is always on the board members themselves. And one of the most relevant quips in recent weeks came from James Susek, who lost his primary election bid for re-election and said his farewells to Wilkes-Barre Area School Board November 19.
“One day you’re sworn in,” Susek said for any incoming members who cared to listen, “The next day you’re sworn at.”
To new and returning members, a few bits of advice:
• Develop a thick skin, but avoid building walls. You need to be able to take criticism without counterattacking, and without building a bunker. You decided to run for office, and that comes with a lot of potential scrutiny: Open meetings, open records, open mics and yes, open season on any decision you make, opinion you utter, or scoffing and sarcasm you let slip. Be prepared for it, and be prepared to back up your stances with all the documentation and data you can bring to bear.
• Remember your social media posts are not under lock and key and are not protected by any particular privilege. Nor are old emails or other internet expressions that wend their way into the public eye. Think of your social media comments as an extension of your public meeting performances. And be prepared to either defend or apologize for anything you let out into the digital ether in the past that may surface in your new future.
• Be true to your vision but not blind to facts. Be ethical but not obstinate. Be focused on accomplishments but not closed to outside ideas. Be patient but persistent. In short, be a good leader by being a good follower, a person pursuing a higher cause, who inspires others to come along on the journey rather than ordering them to get in line.
— Times Leader