A pair of school board seats will be up for grabs this fall at Franklin schools, and those seats are among more than a dozen available to local residents.
In addition to Franklin’s Union and Needham township school board seats, Center Grove schools will have three at-large seats available, Clark-Pleasant schools will have one seat available in Pleasant Township and two in Clark Township, Edinburgh schools will have one at-large seat and two Blue River Township seats available, Indian Creek schools will have one seat available for Hensley Township and one for Jackson Township in Morgan County, and Greenwood schools will have two at-large seats and a District 2 seat available.
Candidates must live in the townships they’re running for or, for at-large seats, within the district’s boundaries.
Franklin schools superintendent David Clendening led a presentation about what to expect as a school board member this week at Needham Elementary School.
“Our vision is to be student-centered and innovative,” Clendening said. “I hope everyone who considered running for the board is student-centered and innovative. It’s about the kids.”
The district revolves around guiding principles of collaboration, communication, individual student growth and trust, he said.
School board candidates can now pick up their forms at the Johnson County courthouse, and after collecting at least 10 signatures from residents in the area they’re running in, can submit their ballot applications between July 27 and noon on Aug. 26.
People shouldn’t run for school board with a certain agenda or platform, said Kristi Ott, school board president.
“You want to do what’s best for kids,” Ott said. “We’ve had a very cohesive school board. We may not always agree, but we talk through it and come to a consensus. I will call someone if I have a question, and we’ll go back and forth and talk to Dr. Clendening. I think that’s the biggest thing. We can’t micromanage.”
School board members get paid $2,000 a year and are responsible for coming to the board’s monthly meetings, work sessions and executive sessions. Most months require 10 to 20 hours of solid contribution, and some of its responsibilities include hiring the superintendent, reviewing the district’s budget, curriculum and textbooks, and voting on action items at each meeting, Clendening said.
“Please don’t run just to fire somebody,” he said. “Because if that happens, let’s say you get it done, then what’s your mission? We’ve had a history in our district of that happening. A person got fired, and the very next month, the board member resigned. Please don’t do that. Remember our kids. It’s about community and it’s about us. We have a good thing. I think we have a great thing, actually. The community has come together, and our kids have gotten a great education. Are we perfect? Absolutely not. But our community needs a great school system and we’ve come for the reason of education.”
