Public service at its best
John Heim
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
PUBLIC SERVICE is an important and difficult job. Men and women volunteer to serve on elected and appointed boards and commissions to help the community be a good place to live, work and raise a family. The decisions they make are not always popular and those decisions typically affect our pocketbooks in the form of fees, taxes and other normal costs of living.
This month, we will bid farewell to three public servants who are completing terms on the Emporia Board of Education. Jerry Fair, a certified public accountant, has served two four-year terms on the board. Businessman Kevin Nelson is finishing his first term, and he has begun a new term of service on the Emporia City Commission. Carol Schaefer, a business owner who served 12 years on the board, returned in February as an interim member to complete the term of Jeff Larson. Jeff stepped down from the board when he was selected to be a district court judge in January. This was Jeff’s eighth year on the board. In July, we will welcome Mike Helbert, Angie Schreiber and Glen Strickland as they begin their new terms on the board.
I appreciate the time Jerry, Kevin, Jeff and Carol have devoted to board service on behalf of the children of Emporia and the voters and taxpayers they represented. They have had the opportunity to make decisions about curriculum, allocation of resources and policies that will affect generations to come. They have had to make difficult decisions about how to best use tax dollars to accomplish the goals of a strategic plan that was developed for the district by community members during their last four-year term.
The strategic plan begins with our mission statement, which I think bears repeating:
Building on Emporia’s diverse and ever-changing population and its long-term commitment to educational excellence, the Emporia Public Schools will challenge each student to reach his/her highest academic potential through a relevant curriculum in a safe and effective learning environment.
This mission statement was written with much thought by a group of citizens representing multiple segments of our community. This group clearly recognized the significant impact that diversity is having on our schools and community. Students from all over the world enter Emporia classrooms each day with a desire to learn English and the academic skills needed to become productive adults. This demographic shift we are experiencing presents many challenges to our community. One thing is clear: the need for a strong public school system could not be greater if we want our community to grow and prosper.
One of the critical components to job development is the availability of an educated and skilled workforce. That is why one of our long-term objectives is a 100-percent graduation rate. The Board of Education will be asked to make decisions that will keep us moving toward this goal.
Public education is an investment in our quality of live and our ability to retain jobs and attract new ones. We are fortunate to have committed citizens willing to serve on the Board of Education to protect that investment.