Bentonville School Board to engage students at meetings

BENTONVILLE -- Students soon will be invited to participate in School Board meetings.

The board decided this month to let high school and junior high school administrators choose one or two of their students to attend meetings as student representatives.

Meetings on tap

The Bentonville School Board’s last two meetings of 2015 are scheduled for Dec. 8 and 14. Both meetings begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Administration Building at 500 Tiger Blvd.

The December meetings are sure to include further discussion of a controversial proposal to eliminate the School District’s two-calendar system next year, which will require a rezoning of the district’s elementary schools.

Source: Staff report

Kim Foerster, a teacher at Fulbright Junior High School, pitched the idea to the board in October. Board members agreed to implement the concept on a pilot basis in January.

"I envision it as a true alliance and not just a token student voice," Foerster said.

The School District recognizes students as its most important stakeholders, "So it stands to reason they would have some type of a voice on the School Board," Foerster said.

She suggested selecting students from the junior high and high school levels because of their maturity and mental capacity. She added it would be nice if board members served as mentors to the students.

Foerster has discussed the matter with school principals, who she said were enthusiastic about it.

Board member Joe Quinn called it a "great idea" and suggested setting up a table with five seats adjacent to where the board sits. The board, at some point during each meeting, could turn to the students for their thoughts on certain topics, he said.

But there has to be a trial period, Quinn said.

"I think it could really take off or it could not," he said. "I think you want to play with it a little bit before you formalize it in a policy."

Willie Cowgur, board vice president, said he believes the board should begin the student-representative program in January, do it for five months, then get feedback from participants and revise the program accordingly.

Superintendent Michael Poore said administrators would have the arrangement in place by January.

For now, it will be up to each junior high and high school principal to decide which students get to serve and for how long. Each student could serve for one month or several months.

Student representatives will not be allowed to make motions, vote, or enter executive sessions with the board. They also won't be allowed to attend any student discipline or employee termination hearings, Foerster said.

A possible requirement for student representatives could be to maintain a blog through which they could receive community feedback, Foerster said.

"I think that's a real-world, relevant life lesson for them, especially if they'd like to pursue some type of a community/political position to be in touch with what their constituents believe," she said.

Student representatives are not commonly found on school boards nationwide, but there are some.

Noah Branch was sworn in as the first student representative on the Minneapolis School Board in February. Branch, who was 16 at the time of his appointment, attends monthly board meetings and provides a student's perspective on key issues. He can't vote but can weigh in on developing educational policies and programs. He'll receive a $5,000 college scholarship when his term as board member ends on Dec. 31, according to the Minneapolis Public Schools website.

The Little Rock School Board accommodated student representatives for years before a state takeover of the district in January.

NW News on 11/30/2015

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