Minnewaska Area Schools is joining all Minnesota school districts across the state to celebrate February as School Board Recognition Month.

This year, more than any year, board leadership is essential. It seems long past due to thank the community members who have worked so hard to have the children of the Minnewaska Area School District succeed. This month is designated to recognize all school board members. 

School issues today are more than the three B’s-buses, ball games and budgets. The goal of student achievement is at the center of high-performing board work. “In another year full of challenges for public education, our school board members persevered through the adversity of 2022 to provide the best possible education for our students,” said Superintendent Rankin. “Celebrating School Board Recognition Month is one of the very small ways to express appreciation for all they do.”

The last two years have been hard on students, teachers, district staff and school board members. Local decisions on masking, vaccinations and other issues have not been easy. However, the Minnewaska Area School Board members based their decisions on providing the best education to the students in the safest manner possible. Minnewaska Area Schools has a high-functioning board that operates as a team and is doing the best job it can for the students of this district. “School board members represent the views and priorities of their community in the complex system of maintaining and running a district’s public schools,” Rankin said. They also reinforce the principle of local control over public education, which is an important, highly valued aspect of education in Minnesota. “Too often, the efforts of school board members go unrecognized,” Rankin said.

“The school board’s main goal is to support student achievement,” Rankin added. To achieve that goal, the board focuses on the following needs:

• Creating a vision for what parents and citizens want their school district to become and making student achievement the top priority.

• Setting standards for what students must learn and be able to do.

• Assessing whether schools achieve their goals and whether students are learning.

• Accounting for the outcomes of decisions and tracking progress, and reporting results.

• Aligning the use of the district’s human and financial resources.

• Creating a safe and orderly climate where students can learn and teachers can teach.

• Collaborating to solve common problems and to support common successes.

• Focusing on continuous improvement by questioning, examining, revising, refining and revisiting issues related to student achievement.

“Even though we are making a special effort during February to show appreciation for our school board members, we recognize their contributions reflect a year-round effort on their part,” Rankin said. “No matter what challenges lie ahead for our district in 2023, our school board members will continue to govern to improve student achievement and provide an exceptional education for all our community’s children.”

Minnewaska Area Schools would like to recognize the following individuals for the time committed to serving the district’s youth with Chad Barsness, Ted Reichmann, Zach Lagred, Angie Reichmann, Jeff Holtberg, Justin Zavadil and Amanda Ogdahl. Thank you for your hard work and dedication.