Students on Boards of Education
STUDENT participation on boards of education is a small part of a much larger movement towards meaningful student involvement throughout education. Since the 1960s this effort has waxed and waned, according to the will of school officials and the sincere interest of students involved. Today that tide is turning, and students across the US are calling for deepened engagement in the decision-making that affects them on all levels - in the classroom, in the auditorium, and in the boardroom.
In Washington state the Seattle Young People's Project is calling for two students - one male, one female - to be elected to the school board through popular vote among students. These students would ideally represent the diversity and power of young people throughout the district. This email is being shared to support the work of these young people in their struggle, as well as the adults who ultimately choose the fate of student voice on the school board.
This email can also serve students, educators, administrators, and concerned community members around the nation as they lobby for student participation on school boards of education.
The resources are separated into three categories: Examples from the USA, from California to Maryland, low-income to affluent areas, black, brown and white students; Washington State examples, from where I live, including the State Board of Education and the Kent School District; and publications from around the US and Canada about students on school boards.
For more information please email me, or write me via the TIG messenger.
RESOURCES FROM THE US
for Student Involvement in School Boards of Education
National School Boards Org on Student Involvement
http://www.nasbe.org/resolutions.html
The National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) Guiding Organizational Principles for State Boards of Education states “Section G. Student Involvement - Student involvement in education decision making provides students with an increased understanding of the roles and responsibilities of policymakers and administrators, gives students an increased stake in their own education, and provides adults with a fresh perspective on the education system. Therefore, state boards of education should provide opportunities for meaningful student involvement in state education policymaking and should encourage school districts and school councils to provide similar opportunities for students at the local level. (1996, 1998)”
Meet Reality: Biography of a Student Representative
http://www.k12.dc.us/dcps/boe/boebios.html#alston
This is the biography of India Alston, Student Board Representative to the Washington, D.C. Board of Education. The D.C. Board wrestled throughout the 2001/02 school year about increasing the representation on the school board, so far without conclusion.
Cali Mandates Student Involvement
www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/calawquery?codesection=edc&codebody=35012
In the California Education Code, which is the law that controls school boards in the state, the law says that a school board that has high schools in it’s district MUST let one or more student ("pupil") members be on the school board if the students in the district submit a petition with at least 500 signatures asking for student representation. The pupil members are selected by the students of the district. The pupil members MUST be seated with the members of the board and recognized as full members of the board at school board meetings. This includes receiving all materials presented to the board members and participating in the questioning of witnesses and the discussion of issues. The petition can also ask that the pupil members be "preferential voting" members, which means that they get to vote on each item and their preference vote is recorded in the official records of the district. The pupil member’s votes don’t count toward the board’s action but they do let the student view of the issues be known. This law means that high school students have a chance for a voice and representation on the board of education. The law is in the California Education Code,
Section 35012 (d).
17 and on the School Board
http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/bal-md.bormel12dec12.story
She is insightful and on topic, and when Sarah Bormel talks, Baltimore County school officials listen. Read about a student serving as a school board member in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Fellow students - and not only Sarah Bormel's high school classmates in Towson - often ask Baltimore County's youngest school board member: "Could you get other kinds of food stocked in the vending machines?" "A lot of the things they ask for are, like, silly," the 17-year-old recalled the other day, before a meeting at which the board considered classroom crowding and the school system's goals. "Stuff that the board really has no control of." But her voice is heard across the school board, and Bormel is usually the person who brings the board back into focus on schools.
18 and on the School Board
http://www.cnn.com/2002/fyi/news/04/26/ryan.jolley/
In April 2002 an 18-year-old recent high school graduate was elected to a school board in Columbus, Ohio. "I want to make sure that we're heading in the right direction, as far as educating our students," he said after being elected. That diversity is just what the governing body needs, said Marlene Eader, vice president of the Board of Education. “He has a unique way of thinking about things," she said. "It's important when working together as a board for everyone not to think the same about issues."
Representing the Voice of Schools
http://www.kernel.uky.edu/2001/text/0222/12b_edit_ioo.shtml
This University of Kentucky editorial from February 2001 is entitled “Representing the voice of schools: The face of school boards may be changing with proposal to give students representation.” It advocates student representatives on school boards.
History of Student Involvement on School Boards
http://www.freshangles.com/realtime/education/articles/14.html
In the 1960s and 70s the Junior State of America fought for student rights, including the lowering of the voting age (approved by United States Congress in 1971), as well as student representation in school boards. Today, it has grown to over 10,000 members.
Vermont is Tracking ‘Em
www.vtvsba.org/download/students.htm
According to the Vermont School Board Association (VSBA) that state has a lot of student representatives and student advisors on school boards. This chart lists districts from across the state:
District No. Students How They're Selected
Brattleboro UHS 1 Student Council member
Cabot 1 Volunteer
Charlotte 2 Selected by school officials/faculty
Harwood UHS 2 Elected by students
Lake Region UHS 2 Invited to serve by school administrators
Middlebury UHS 2 ?
Mill River UHS 1 Selected among Student Council members
Montpelier 2 Elected by students
Mt. Mansfield UHS 3 Selected by school officials/faculty
No. Country UHS 1 Elected by students
Northfield 2 Selected by school officials/faculty
Norwich 1 Elected by students
Otter Valley UHS 1 Elected by students
Randolph UHS 2 Elected by students
Rutland City 1 Elected by students
So. Burlington 2 Student Council selects one of their members
Springfield 1 Elected by students
Winooski 1 Elected by students
Questioning Necessity
http://216.239.37.100/search?q=cache:TFGiEqc34XsC:vtvsba.org/legis/april12.PDF+%22students+on+school+boards%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
However, legislative report states that the “VSBA Board questions why responsibility for something as important as education would be singled out for decision making by non-voting aged students.” Contradicting that concern, this report goes on to say that the VSBA encourages participation of students on school boards but has taken no position for or against a specific bill which proponents students on school boards.
Working Across Agendas
Several sources report that Farmworkers Self-Help, Inc. (FSH) in Dade City, Florida works to promote student participation in school decision-making. Contact them at:
Farmworkers Self-Help, Inc. (FSH)
37240 Lock Street
Dade City, FL 33523
Margarita Romo, Executive Director
(352) 567-0200
Indiana Students on Board
http://www.in.gov/legislative/hdpr/R34_02252000.html
In February 2001 Indiana approved 2 student positions as non-voting members of the state school board.
25 Years of Students on Board
http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/schools/sga/pdf/sa/nwsltter/year1999-00/vol1no2.pdf
A brief history of the position for a student on the board of education in Rockville, Maryland.
Students at State School Board Conference
In the fall of 2002 More than 200 high school students and teacher-chaperons from school districts across Pennsylvania participated in the 32nd annual Student Delegate Program of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association in Hershey. They held a “mock” school board for students to attend.
Read some of their announcements or reports:
http://www.octorara.k12.pa.us/viewnews.php?file=news&article=3
http://www.mtsd.org/news/show.asp?news=8
http://www.bvasd.net/schoolboard/minutes/ 9900/111899regularmeeting.pdf
Pennsylvania Students on School Boards
www.asd.k12.pa.us/Policy/policy%20013.pdf
Armstrong (PA) School District has 2 student representatives
Student Leadership Network
http://www.studentleaders.org/
From all preliminary investigations, this organization is now defunct.
"The Student Leadership Network (SLN), formerly the Student Alliance Organization (http://www.studentleaders.org/) is a national, non-profit, student-led, youth leadership development organization for students on school boards, youth activists and student councils. Our goal is to empower youth and ensure their voice is heard! Our mission is to create a network of students who participate in their education while empowering them with the skills to become active citizens. Our objectives are: To have one high school student serve on every school board in this country by 2005; To inform and empower students and youth with their rights in school and outside of school; To expand our Youth Yellow Pages from two cities to fifteen cities by 2003; and To have at least 50% of the nation's student councils involved and active in our network by 2003."
Minnesota Youth Lobby for Students on School Boards
http://cfl.state.mn.us/youthadvisory/news1Legislation.html
The Youth Advisory Council of the Minnesota Department of Children, Families, and Learning is currently working on passing state legislation that offers an incentive to school districts that bring student representatives onto their school board.
International Student Activism Alliance
http://www.studentactivism.org/
In the 1990’s an organization called the International Student Activism Alliance lobbied heavily in Connecticut for voting student representation on the state board of education. While they did get two students to represent on the board, they got denied voting rights.
WASHINGTON STATE RESOURCES
for Student Involvement in School Boards of Education
“Students need to learn about their own power and have opportunities to define their role in society."
- Dr. Terry Bergeson, Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction in a speech at the National Service Learning Conference, Seattle, April 2002.
According to several resources, Washington's legal system is "silent" on youth participation, both in school districts and non-profits. This means that there are currently no laws in Washington state that specifically prohibit or allow for youth involvement on school boards of education. A Youth On Board publication entitled "Your Guide to Youth Board Involvement and the Law" suggests that issues faced in this situation vary from designing proposed language changes to allow for legal and long-term youth participation to readiness assessment for the school board, to training for the adult members as well as the youth representatives.
Students on State Board
http://www.sbe.wa.gov/membr1.htm
The Washington State Board of Education includes two high school students who are elected annually by the Washington Association of Student Councils. The students do not vote. The current members are:
O Andrea Naccarato, a Junior from Greenacres (term expires 5/04)
Read an announcement about her selection: http://www.sbe.wa.gov/Press%20Releases/AndreaNaccaratoPressReleaseFin2.htm
O Lacey Androsko, a Senior from Black Diamond who attends Enumclaw H.S. (term expires 5/03).
Read an announcement from when Androsko invited the SBE to her town:
http://www.sbe.wa.gov/Press%20Releases/mediaAdv72602.htm
Redmond Students Advise Superintendent
http://www.ryp.org/
An organization called the Redmond Youth Partnership in Redmond, Washington, has young people meeting quarterly with the Lake Washington School District superintendent to share their concerns, ideas, and suggestions for schools. They have placed human dignity and respect of students as a priority and focus of these discussions.
Students and Diversity in Kent
http://www.kent.k12.wa.us/
In 1999 the Kent School District recognized the tokenizing factor of minimal student representation in school decision making. A district committee called the Diversity Task Force II increased the number of student representatives from one to four and found significant results.
Student on State Education Committee
http://www.k12.wa.us/Migrant/sac.asp
The State Advisory Committee of the Migrant and Bilingual Education Department of the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction has roles for two students, one voting, one non-voting on the committee.
Youth Leadership & Service
http://www.k12.wa.us/integratedcurr/yes
The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction hosts a working group called the Youth Leadership and Service Team. They offer training and technical assistance across the state to promote student involvement in school decision making and service learning.
PUBLICATIONS
on Student Involvement in School Boards of Education
Historical Research Supports Student Involvement
Student Representatives Serving with Boards of Education by Daniel L. Towler (1975). Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the American Association of School Administrators. ERIC Document ED 109 824.
A 1975 paper found that 43% of California school districts had some sort of student representation on the board of education. Some observers said that students act like adult board members, but their interests at the beginning of the school year make everyone keenly aware that they are students. In almost every case, school boards that had student representation sing the praises of student representation.
Does No Vote = No Voice?
Council of Urban Boards of Education Triennial Survey by the National School Board Association (1996). Alexandria, VA.
A 1996 survey by the National School Board Association found that fifty school districts across the United States included student representation in their board meetings. The majority of these boards had one student representative, instead of two or three among boards of 15-20 adults. While student bodies elected most student representatives, facts were not available on whether those elected were representative of the majority student body, either by race, academic achievement, or other standards. Finally, none of these students were given a vote in any of the matters of the school board.
Do You Want (or Need) a Voice in Decisions Made About You?
Do You Want (or Need) Students on the School Board? by Roger A. Place (1973). Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the American Association of School Administrators. ERIC Document ED 078 500.
A 1973 paper presented at the American Association of School Administrators Annual Meeting explains how there are too many obstacles to making students full-fledged members of official school boards. There are examples of structural, attitudinal, and societal barriers to valid student participation.
Can You See Me? Schools should Refocusing their Lenses
The Canadian Institute on Governance conducted a study called Refocusing the Lens as the result of a major youth and governance project launched in early 1999. By partnering with a youth organization to study the role of young people in decision-making, the Institute examined different models of youth participation in policy development.
In particular, it studied the impact of youth organizations that try to influence decision-makers. The series critically analyzes recent legislative reforms in the Canadian province of Ontario aimed at permitting greater student input into education policy-making, and proposes ways to strengthen the reforms. It looked at the effectiveness of different mechanisms that governments use to consult with youth. The report includes lessons for youth groups who want to exert more influence and lists an annotated sampling of youth organizations entitled "Taking Notice".
IOG Policy Brief No. 5: Youth Involvement in Policy-Making: Lessons from Ontario School Boards
Re-focusing the Lens: Assessing the Challenge of Youth Involvement in Public Policy - Executive Summary
Re-focusing the Lens: Assessing the Challenge of Youth Involvement in Public Policy
Nine Lessons for Influencing Policy Makers
Involving Students Improves Policy Making
Let Your School Board Be a Lesson
Let Your School Board Be a Lesson by Tom Keating. Published in the American School Board Journal v182 n9 p41-42 Sep 1995.
In this article author Tom Keating says that although most textbooks teach federal and state political concepts effectively, they do not adequately explain the most popular form of direct democracy--the elected school board. Some boards are including students as nonvoting members; others have made communication a priority. An upstate New York district includes school boarding in a middle-level unit on local governance.
Power of Student Voice
The Alaska Association of School Boards released The Power of an Untapped Resource: Exploring Youth Representation on Your Board or Committee through the Youth Adult Partnerships Project in Sitka, Alaska.
Additional Resources
Your Guide to Youth Board Involvement and the Law is available from Youth On Board
Freechild Project Youth Involvement Bibliography Online.
Campaign for Meaningful Student Involvement Research Database Online
Campaign for Meaningful Student Involvement Guide to Researching the Roles of Students in Schools
