Becoming A Board Member

Becoming A Member of the Board of Education

Are you interested in becoming a member of the Board of Education?  Learn about being a Board of Education member here.  Contact District Clerk, Ellen McGoldrick (ellen.mcgoldrick@vcsdny.org) at Central Office to get a Valley Central BOE Member packet.   NYSSBA Brochure, “Running for School Board” 

Expectations of a Board Member

The Board of Education is a uniquely American institution. It keeps the country’s public schools flexible and responsive to the needs of their local communities. A member of a Board of Education in New York State takes on one of the most important responsibilities that can be assigned to any citizen: helping to plan the education of the community’s youth.

With schoolchildren always their ultimate focus, school board members act officially at the board table, working with other board members to serve students and accomplish the following:

  • Create a shared vision for the future of education
  • Set the direction of the school district to achieve the highest student performance
  • Provide rigorous accountability for student  achievement results
  • Develop a budget and present it to the community, aligning district resources to improve achievement
  • Support a healthy school district culture for work and learning
  • Create strategic partnerships with the community stakeholders
  • Build the district’s progress through continuous improvement
  • Adopt and maintain current policies
  • Hire and evaluate the superintendent
  • Ratify collective bargaining agreements
  • Maintain strong ethical standards

Effective Board of Education Members possess the following characteristics:

  • Effective Communicator: Can describe what he or she wants and describe what others want; a good listener
  • Consensus Builder: Capable of working toward decisions that all can support and willing to compromise to achieve goals
  • Community Participant: Enjoys meeting a variety of people, can identify the community’s key communicators and reaches out to the community
  • Decision Maker: Is comfortable making decisions and can support group decision-making
  • Information Processor: Can organize priorities and schedules to handle large amounts of verbal and written information
  • Leader: Willing to take risks, be supportive of board colleagues, district staff, and community
  • Team Player: Helps promote the board’s vision and goals