By David Webster
KSBA President
When life is tiring, when you are struggling with your position, when family members are not supporting you, when your school district’s budget is tight, when schools are struggling, when staff turnover is high, when being a board member is exhausting, when your health is failing, when the community is not supporting you, when the future is unsure, and when a good superintendent leaves – it is so easy to become discouraged.
I’ve seen the following three paragraphs, and variations on them, in many sources – so many I am not sure who first wrote them, so I apologize for the lack of credit. I’ve also taken the liberty of “personalizing” the passage for school board members:
“Discouragement is a thief. It steals your vitality, your zeal, your joy, your peace and your contentment. If discouragement dwells long with you, its friends will soon join in. Their names are fatigue, hopelessness, despair, self-pity, depression, doubt and bitterness. Sometimes, discouragement can be so strong that you are ready to throw in the towel, throw up your hands and say, ‘I quit.’
“Discouragement is dissatisfaction with the past, distaste for the present and distrust of the future. It is the result of blindness. It is ingratitude for the blessings of yesterday, indifference to the opportunities of today and insecurity regarding strength for tomorrow. It is unawareness of the presence of others around you who care, unconcern for the needs of your fellow board members and unbelief in your own ability. This has been the downfall of many good public servants.
“If we have nothing to rely on, or we forget our blessings and look to our circumstances, the bleakness of the present problems and the constant reminders of past issues, then that is when discouragement begins to take hold. Instead, what we need is encouragement. We need hope and peace and the knowledge in knowing that we have people who are concerned and have compassion for us and are not leaving us unloved, stranded on our own, and disheartened.”
That is where we as a collective group of elected officials need to come to one another’s aid. We all should be able to understand the stress of being a school board member and the challenges that come with the position. Dealing with policy, procedures, budget issues, (did I mention Budget Issues?), state unfunded mandates. We should be able to reach out and offer help when other board members are in need. We have access to all the necessary communication instruments we need to make this happen. So, take the time to send encouraging emails, texts and maybe even a snail mail to your fellow board members with words of encouragement. If you have the time and phone numbers of board members not in your district, give them a call and just chat awhile; it is a good way to help someone through some difficult times in his or her district. We read in our KSBA Education News Roundup daily about districts that are facing tremendous troubles, and it only takes a few minutes to send those board members a small word of encouragement.
This is a way to help those who take the time to stand up for public education at its best. We are the advocates for our students. We need the support of one another more now than ever in this budget crisis that we are in.
So as the old advertisement says: “Reach out and touch someone.”
“ASPIRE TO INSPIRE BEFORE YOU EXPIRE”