Commitment to professional development leads to ASBA award
The Arizona School Boards Association (ASBA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that was founded over 70 years ago. There are 240 member school districts, including CFSD, serving about 1 million students across Arizona. Member districts have equal voting rights that influence the organization’s structure and determine its political agenda.
School boards have unique requirements and responsibilities. ASBA has been instrumental in helping ensure that CFSD’s board engages in best practices for its governance by providing continuing education and leadership development to CFSD board members. We congratulate Amy Krauss, who was recently recognized with the Copper Award for completing 150 hours of professional development training. We also acknowledge, with gratitude, Amy Bhola’s consistent dedication to professional development, which previously earned her ASBA’s Master of Boardsmanship Award for her commitment to continuing board professional
learning.
CFSD subscribes to ASBA’s Policy Services, which provides model policies to ensure that CFSD remains in compliance with state and federal laws and court and regulatory actions. Without this service, CFSD would have to rely on outside legal counsel every time an education bill is signed into law or an existing bill is amended, or a court decision addressing a public-education issue is released, or the State Department of Education makes policy changes. CFSD’s Policy Manual has 12 sections, which incorporate hundreds of individual policies, so ASBA’s Policy Service is essential to keeping up with every change the governing board has to consider every year.
Finally, ASBA advocates at the state legislature to provide the resources and legal environment in which local school boards have the autonomy and resources to carry out our vision for our schools and community. Each year the CFSD board casts a vote on the association’s political agenda. For 2023, the agenda includes the following priorities:
Adequately and equitably fund district schools to at least the national median per pupil funding
Preserve and strengthen local control
Improve outcomes for all students
Require public accountability for taxpayer dollars spent on education
Ensure that students in small, rural and remote schools are considered by policymakers alongside students in large metropolitan schools
School safety and security
Further explanation of these priorities can be explored here.
We agree with ASBA’s commitment to local control and community decision-making. When local decision-making thrives and governance is strong, open and effective, students win. That means CFSD wins.