January 27-31, 2020 is School Board Appreciation Week in Tennessee. This week helps build awareness and understanding of the vital functions our locally elected boards of education play in our community. Lauderdale County is joining public school districts from across the state to celebrate School Board Appreciation Week and honor local board members for their commitment to Lauderdale County and its children.
“Our school system is vitally important to the success of our community and these men and women devote their time to making sure our schools are helping every child,” Superintendent Shawn Kimble said. “Our board members spend time studying important issues like budgets, policies, and procedures. Our local board members are willing to make tough decisions when called upon to ensure the type of accountability people expect and our students deserve.”
Kimble said the key work of school boards is to raise student achievement by:
- Creating a vision for what the community wants the school district to be and for making student achievement the top priority;
- Ensuring progress is measured to be sure the district’s goals are achieved and students are learning at expected levels;
- Creating a safe, orderly climate where students can learn and teachers can teach;
- Forming partnerships with others in the community to solve common problems; and
- Focusing attention on the need for continuous improvement by questioning, refining and revising issues related to serving ALL students.
“Our local school board is a strong group of dedicated individuals and it has been my honor to work alongside them for nearly a decade. They are always willing to make decisions that are always in the best interest of our students, employees, and community.
The members serving our community are as follows:
- Mrs. Eva Drain
- Mr. Bob Ennis, Chair
- Dr. Roy Harkness
- Mr. Rob Harris
- Mr. Wade Hendren, Vice-Chair
- Mrs. Melinda Hutcherson
- Ms. Linda Jennings
- Mr. Austin Thompson, Jr.