Republic School Board awarded prestigious MSBA Governance Award

The Republic School Board was presented with the Missouri School Board Association’s Governance Award during their meeting Thursday, July 18. The board was presented the award by Gerry Lee, associate executive director of the MSBA.
“This is what’s important; this is what it means, to make sure our kids succeed,” Lee told the board as he presented them the award.
This is the board’s fifth year in a row to receive the honor, and only about five-percent of the school boards across Missouri qualify for it annually.

According to information provided on the MSBA’s website, an extensive list of criteria must be met for a school board to be eligible for the award, including: 1. The district is accredited, 2. The district is a member of MSBA. 3. All seven board members have completed Essential Certified Board Member certification by MSBA or have been grandfathered from the requirement, 4. At least two board members have achieved advanced board member certification, 5. At least one board member has attained the master board member certification, 6. At least a quorum of the board and the superintendent attended the most recent MSBA/MASA Annual Conference, 7. At least three board members and superintendent or other central office administrator attended the most recent MSBA Spring Regional Meeting, 8. A representative attended the most recent legislative forum and 9. A board member representative participated in at least one delegate assembly during the year.
Four members of the Republic School Board have advanced board member certification: Mark Gimlin, Denny Lawson, Rusty Swift and Todd Wojciechowski; the same four also have master board member certification, meaning the board exceeds requirements four and five.
“What I’m really proud of our Board of Education is that they’ve made this part of their goals,” he said. “If we’re going to ask our teachers to invest in professional learning, (the board’s) going to invest in professional learning. Our board members are servant leaders, so they lead by modeling, and we have now received the Governance Award five years in a row.”