Elect Compassion to school board

Ask a school board candidate why they want to serve on a board of education, and you’ll usually get predictable responses, like “for the kids,” or “to make our schools the best they can be” – both a great place to start. But once you’ve been on a board, a larger purpose comes into focus.

After a while, you begin to realize that you can shape the student, educator and parent experience with the schools, and what a tremendous responsibility this is for the collective board. For children, their first extended experience with the outside world and society will be in school, made up of other children, adults in authority, rules, schedules, structure – and most of all, expectations. So somewhere in their subconscious, the child is asking “What kind of treatment can I expect from the outside world, and what does it mean for my future?” They begin to get their answer at school.

Many of us came to school with some initial understanding of the answer from our parents, who set rules, had expectations, loved us and gave us space to roam. But not all of us. Two thirds of children report at least one traumatic event by age 16; 26% of children in the United States will witness or experience a traumatic event before they turn four. And for many of these, some form of trauma(s) will be ongoing. (www.recognizetrauma.org/)

If our motivation to serve initially was for the benefit of our own children, school board service quickly expands that responsibility. Trauma-impacted kids have a higher rate of incarceration in their future and can be disruptive in school. Do you want your schools to be safe, nurturing learning environments for your kids? Pay attention to the needs of other people’s kids, too.

In our local schools, compassion is reflected in policy. With trauma-impacted kids in mind, the board made changes to ensure that security lockdown drills are as stress-free as possible. By changing a single word – from “may” to “shall” – students eligible for free and reduced lunch will no longer feel stigmatized, or even have to ask that activity fees be waived for them to be able to participate in clubs or sports. And we have witnessed compassionate responses from administrators and staff who have come to understand, for example, that the reason a particular student is late every day is because he is responsible for getting his younger siblings ready and off to school.

My most cherished experiences as a school board member have been Student of the Month recognitions where students give insights into what they have already overcome in this world. It may be, “I came to this school as a second-grader not able to speak English, and I was welcomed. And now I’m being recognized in front of my family for my accomplishments.”

Until every student feels valued, and can see a future of hope and meaning, I encourage our communities to look for compassion, and a willingness to change one’s mind when selecting their board of education members. We all will benefit.