Auburn, Vancouver honored as School Boards of the Year
Posted November 21, 2011
Auburn and Vancouver have been selected as the 2011 School Boards of the Year by the Washington State School Directors’ Association. The announcement was made Saturday at the WSSDA Annual Conference in Bellevue.
Auburn and Vancouver were selected from among 16 school boards that were honored as 2011 WSSDA Boards of Distinction. The other boards are Chimacum, East Valley (Spokane), Franklin Pierce, Issaquah, Kent, Lakewood, Marysville, Puyallup, Selah, South Kitsap, Sunnyside, University Place, West Valley (Spokane) and White River.
WSSDA’s Boards of Distinction awards program honors school boards that demonstrate effective use of the Washington School Board Standards. The standards, developed and adopted by WSSDA in 2009, promote researched-based governance practices that lead to high levels of student and district performance.
Award applicants are required to submit an essay and supporting evidence to demonstrate how they are putting the standards into practice. This year, applicants were asked to address the following benchmarks (one from each of the five standards):
- Ensuring school board and district transparency through a process that is open and accountable.
- Leading the development, articulation and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by schools and community.
- Employing and supporting quality teachers, administrators and other staff and providing for their professional development.
- Evaluating the superintendent on clear and focused expectations.
- Ensuring the board is accountable and open to the public, including seeking divergent perspectives in its decision making process.
Applications are evaluated by an independent review panel, and awards are given to those who receive at least 70 points out of a possible 100.
As School Boards of the Year, Auburn and Vancouver each received a gift of $500 from the Washington School Boards’ Educational Foundation.