Senator Shane Jett is proposing reforms to the training requirements for local school board members. Currently, a board member must take 12 hours of instruction within a 15-month period. Along with other reforms, Jett’s bill would make it optional for members to complete three hours of instruction within a six-month period.
Senate Bill 1447 was recently approved by the Senate Education Committee and now awaits a chance to be heard on the Senate floor.
“Those who run for school board are extremely passionate about improving their local schools. These are business people, involved parents or retired educators, who simply want to provide their views and knowledge to the oversight of their local schools,” Jett said. “The current level of required instruction is unnecessary for these voluntary positions, and a complete waste of time for these public servants, not to mention the hundreds and thousands of dollars it costs their districts. My bill will allow them to get the basic training, should they want or need it, to help them understand school finances and their legal requirements.”
The other reforms in SB 1447 include focusing the three hours of training on school finance, the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act, and school law and ethics. School districts would be required to post a record of the school board member training on their websites. The legislation eliminates certain requirements, too.
“These are elected, unpaid positions that good men and women volunteer their time for. If local voters feel they’re qualified enough to help oversee the business of their local district, who are we to require so much training and strap schools with that unnecessary extra expense?” Jett said. “Most other unpaid, elected positions have no training requirements, and I hope my colleagues will see that we need to make school board member training more reasonable to save time and money for everyone involved.”
