January 28, 2023
By: Dwayne Page
January 22-28, 2023 is School Board Appreciation Week in Tennessee and the DeKalb County School District is joining public school districts from across the state to celebrate the observance and honor local board members for their commitment to DeKalb County and its children.
The theme “Let’s Face It – School Boards Work” reminds us to celebrate the unique role school boards play in building a future for their students, championing and advocating for quality education, and governing their local public schools. As the elected representatives of the people in their local communities, they represent their local communities’ voice and vision for the future of their public schools.
“It takes strong leaders to build a strong community, and these men and women devote countless hours to making sure our schools are helping every child learn at a higher level,” said Director of Schools Patrick Cripps.
The school board’s main goal is to support student achievement, Director Cripps added. To achieve that goal, the board focuses on the following needs:
• Creating a vision for what the community wants the school district to be and for making student achievement the top priority.
• Setting the direction of the school district to achieve the highest student performance.
• Ensuring progress is measured to be sure the district’s goals are achieved and students are learning at expected levels.
• Supporting a healthy and safe school district culture in which to work and to learn;
• Forming partnerships with others in the community to solve common problems; and
• Focusing on continuous improvement by questioning, examining, revising, refining, and revisiting issues related to student achievement.
“Even though we are making a special effort during the last week of January to show appreciation for our school board members, we recognize their contributions reflect a year-round effort on their part,” Director Cripps said.
The school board members serving DeKalb County are as follows: Danny Parkerson, Alan Hayes, Jim Beshearse, Eric Ervin,, Jamie Cripps, Jason Miller, and Shaun Tubbs