Reforming School Boards by Austin Smith

The Montana School Boards Association
(MTSBA) defines its core purpose to be that of “maximizing the potential of every childthrough school board leadership.”To that end, school boards acrossthe state of Montana seek to raisestudents to their apex of achievement.Unfortunately, school boardsoften become estranged from their students and, although they may have the best of intentions in mind,their efforts fall short of realizing maximum student potential.

Senate bill 128 effectively combats this inconsistency by allowing two high school seniors a year to serve for a term of one year on their school board. The bill specifies that the two representatives,who are elected by their classmates, must have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 and “be in good standing with his or her high school.”This ensures that competent seniors are elected to the school board;individuals who can represent theconcerns and wishes of their student body without hampering the legitimacy of the school board.

I support S-128 because it brings students into direct contact with the entity that controls their school. More importantly, and certainly imperative to reaching a student’s full potential, is the fact that this bill would help prepare students for life “in the real world”,while concurrently furthering the credo that participation in government is an absolute necessity.