The Coweta County Board of Education has been recognized by the Georgia School Boards Association (GSBA) as a 2016 Exemplary School Board.
The recognition is the highest offered by the GSBA, and honors the best practices in school governance and leadership. Board Chairman Frank Farmer, Superintendent Steve Barker and other members were presented the recognition at GSBA’s Annual Conference in Atlanta on December 2.
This is the second year the “Exemplary” board designation has been offered to local school boards by the organization, and the Coweta County board was among only 39 Georgia school boards out of 180 to meet the requirements for the GSBA distinction this year.
Superintendent Barker congratulated board members on the distinction, and said that the designation indicated that the board conducts its business in an efficient, ethical and professional manner, employs the best practices available for school system governance, and consistently seeks the involvement of stakeholders in their governance of the system.
To meet the ‘Exemplary’ criteria, a school board must already have been recognized as a ‘Quality’ and ‘Distinguished’ Board by GSBA prior. Other requirements the board must meet include:
· Adoption and implementation of a System Strategic Plan, accompanied by a balanced scorecard to measure progress on stated improvement goals and posted online for review by community stakeholders.
· Compliance with all applicable accreditation standards by the board and school system.
· Adoption of the Vision for Public Education in Georgia resolution and adoption of at least 15 of the resolution’s recommendations for local school districts into the system’s Strategic Plan.
· An annual Superintendent evaluation which uses the school system’s Strategic Plan goals as a guide.
· Exceeding annual state Board of Education training requirements by a minimum of three additional credit hours for all members of the school board and school system governance members
· Completion of an annual GSBA Governance self-assessment, and completion of an independent assessment by an independent GSBA Exemplary status committee.
The GSBA Governance Team Recognition Program was developed based on the state board of education’s standards for effective governance to recognize exemplary leadership. In 1998, the Georgia School Boards Association was one of the first school board associations in the nation to develop a program of standards for local boards of education.
The GSBA Board recognition program is a three-year, three tiered program. For more information on the program you may visit the GSBA website for awards and recognition.
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