School Board Recognition Week
October 17-21, 2022
The New York State School Boards Association recognizes October 17-21 as School Board Recognition Week. This is a time to promote awareness and understanding of the important work performed by local school boards. Public schools form the bedrock of our communities and our country. Democracy thrives with educated citizens capable of critical thinking and civil discourse. And it is our local school boards who are ultimately responsible for student success.
“It takes strong schools to build a strong community, and these men devote countless hours to making sure our schools are helping every child learn at a higher level,” Robert Rhinehart, Superintendent, said. “They make the tough decisions every month and spend many hours studying education issues and regulations in order to provide the kind of accountability our community stakeholders expect.”
Mr. Rhinehart said the key work of school boards is to raise student achievement by:
· Developing a shared vision and goals for the district
· Ensuring strategies, resources, policies and programs align with district goals
· Assessing and providing accountability for student achievement
· Supporting a healthy school district culture in which to work and learn
· Evaluating the superintendent to ensure continuous improvement
· And much more!
“School board members give the Downsville citizens a voice in education decision-making. Even though we make a special effort to show our appreciation in October, their contribution is a year-round commitment,” Mr. Rhinehart said.
The members serving our district and their years of service are as follows: Brian LaTourette, President is serving his 20th year (Brian also serves the Area 8 Director of the New York State School Board Association), Richard Bell, Vice President is serving his sixth year, Gary Champlin is serving his 18th year, Chris Towsley is serving his 9th year and Jeremy Jenkusky is serving his 4th year.
Our staff and students will recognize the board at the October 24 meeting. If you wish to recognize the board at this meeting, please call Jeannie Langdon at 607-363-2101 to make arrangements to do so.
Thank you!