With the Board of Education and Capital Project vote coming this Tuesday, The Johnny Green staff felt it would be the right time to ask  Deborah Schwarting (former WCS Board member who is running unopposed for the vacant BOE seat) a few questions to help students understand how the BOE impacts student life. Mrs. Schwarting was kind enough to take some time to answer our questions:

Q. What are some of the most important activities of the BOE that directly impact students?

 A. Probably the most important activity that the BOE does that directly impacts students is the approval of teacher, staff, coaching, and advisor appointments upon the recommendation of the Superintendent.  These are the people who work and interact with the students every day.  The second activity is developing an annual budget for voter approval. The budget includes the purchase of such things as supplies, books, uniforms, etc for student use.  Another activity is approving the addition of new courses and extra curricular activities for students to participate in.

 Q. Do you feel that students have an understanding of the role of the BOE, and if not, is there anything that could be done to raise awareness?

 A. I don’t believe that many students have a full understanding of the role of the Board.  But that is no different than the general public!  Perhaps having students attending BOE meetings or inviting BOE members to talk with students would help.  It is important for BOE members to attend activities at school to show their interest and support.  At the very least, students would know who they are.

 Q. Is there any particular student program or activity that currently doesn’t exist at WHS, but you would like to see created?

 A. I would like to see options for work/study programs, perhaps internships with local businesses.  I know there is a volunteer component in many of the activities that students participate in, but  I would like to explore the idea of volunteering as a graduation requirement.  I realize that incorporating these things could be a challenge given the implementation of the Common Core curriculum.  This is not a high school program but I also think we need to look at offering a Universal Pre Kindegarten (UPK) program to better prepare our younger students as they enter school.

 Q. Do you think it would be a good idea to have a current student as some kind of representative on the BOE (maybe in a non-voting capacity)?

 A. I would be open to discussions of having a student representative on the BOE.  A student representative could certainly provide a different insight for the BOE to consider.