It is hard to believe that it’s been almost two years since I wrote my first President’s Message for School Leader.
I began by reflecting on the tremendous rewards that come with serving on a board of education. While it may sometimes seem like a thankless job, it is those goosebump moments – such as seeing high school seniors walk across a stage to shake hands with the superintendent and receive their diplomas – that make all the late-night board meetings and hard work worthwhile.
During my time as NJSBA president, I have been pleased to enjoy similar rewards while seeking to move our Association forward as we promote the achievement of all students through effective governance. Truly, it has been an honor and privilege to serve as your president.
Along with my fellow officers, I connected with as many board members as possible. We visited all 21 counties, in-person, encouraging everyone to learn, network and eat – and to also bring someone new to a county meeting.
We adhered to a back-to-basics philosophy, creating programming that was timely and relevant.
We supported personnel recommendations that have directly helped board members in their work.
We also celebrated the many services offered by the Association and highlighted these with an “NJSBA At Your Service” tag in our Daily Clips, an electronic digest of noteworthy articles pertaining to education.
We are holding our second annual Women’s Leadership Conference, an event designed to empower and support women with training on work-life balance, resilience, confidence, communication, networking and more.
In April, we are hosting our inaugural Equity Expo to facilitate more sharing of successful school district equity practices among members – as well as our popular School Public Relations Forum, so board members, school staff and administrators can better engage with stakeholders and the public.
Another significant undertaking was a review by the NJSBA Committee on Educational Opportunities for the Career-Focused Learner on an NJSBA task force report from 2018 focusing on non-college bound learners.
Out of that review, a comprehensive report was generated, including 29 recommendations. Frank Belluscio III, formerly the deputy executive director and director of communications of NJSBA, served as a consultant on the initiative. He shares a bevy of insights from the report’s executive summary in this issue.
We also eliminated redundancy in the scripts for the Delegate Assembly and improved the resolution portion of the meeting. Moreover, we have expanded board member engagement and opportunities for board members to serve.
Finally, and importantly, we successfully negotiated an extension to Dr. Timothy Purnell’s employment agreement, which secures his employment as the executive director and CEO of NJSBA for five more years through June 30, 2030.
It has been such a pleasure to work with Tim, whose energy and optimism is contagious, along with the entire NSJBA staff and our officers, who are full of ideas, know their role and share real comradery.
With my term as president soon ending, our Association is poised to take on new challenges with continued competence, efficiency, grace and character.
