Professional development for school board, council members proposed

Public school board members would be required to complete professional development training under a bill heard by the Education Committee March 18.

LB575, introduced by Omaha Sen. Burke Harr, would require newly elected or appointed board or council members to complete a minimum of 12 hours of professional development within six months of their election or appointment. Board members who have served at least one year would be required to complete a minimum of eight professional development hours.

Harr said school boards are facing greater scrutiny, oversight and demands for transparency.

“There is broad agreement among board members at the state and national levels that the advent of performance-based accountability has changed the way local boards operate,” he said. “Continuing education for board members is just as important as continuing education for teachers.”

The training, administered by the state Department of Education, could include:
• the powers and duties of school board members;
• compliance with public records laws;
• compliance with education standards;
• the financial and fiduciary duties of board members;
• financial planning training;
• education and labor law;
• ethics training; and
• information on the school district’s demographics, graduation and dropout rates, truancy, staffing levels and educational assessment scores.

Any board member who fails to complete the required professional development would not be eligible for reelection or reappointment in the following election cycle, but would be eligible during the subsequent election cycle.

John Bonaiuto, representing the Nebraska Association of School Boards, opposed the bill, but not the concept of professional development.

“We oppose making the professional development mandatory,” he said. “Our data shows that 75-80 percent of board members are already involved in or taking some kind of training.”

No one testified in support of the bill and the committee took no immediate action on it.