Kingsport City Schools Recognizes School Board Appreciation Week

Published: January 13, 2016 at 9:10 a.m.

KINGSPORT, Tenn. – Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and the Tennessee School Boards Association (TSBA) have declared January 24–30, 2016 as School Board Appreciation Week in Tennessee. The week helps build awareness and understanding of the vital functions a locally elected board of education plays in our community.

Kingsport City Schools will be joining all public school districts across the state to celebrate School Board Appreciation Week to honor local board members for their commitment to children.

“Public education is the backbone of our community, and we are blessed to have school board members who devote countless hours to ensure Kingsport City Schools are helping every child learn at a higher level,” said KCS Superintendent Dr. Lyle Ailshie. “They make the tough decisions and spend hours educating themselves on impact issues and regulations, in order to provide the level of accountability and successful school district our citizens expect.”

Ailshie said the key work of school boards is to raise student achievement by:

Creating a vision for what the community wants the school district to be and for making student achievement the top priority;
Establishing standards for what students will be expected to learn and be able to do;
Ensuring progress is measured to be certain the district’s goals are achieved and students are learning at expected levels;
Being accountable for their decisions and actions by continually tracking and reporting results;
Creating a safe, orderly climate where students can learn and teachers can teach;
Forming partnerships with others in the community to solve common problems; and
Focusing attention on the need for continuous improvement by questioning, refining and revising issues related to student achievement.

“School board members give the Kingsport citizens a voice in decision making regarding education,” said Dr. Ailshie. “Although we make a special effort to show our appreciation during this week, their contribution is a year-round commitment.” The Board members serving Kingsport City Schools are: Carrie Upshaw, BOE president, Susan Lodal, BOE vice-president, Todd Golden, Eric Hyche and Dr. Karen Reed-Wright.