Issaquah School Board Recognized as ‘Board of Distinction’

The Issaquah School Board was selected as one of the Washington State School Directors’ Association’s "Boards of Distinction." The awards honor school boards that demonstrate effective use of the Washington School Board Standards.

Award applicants submit an essay and supporting evidence to demonstrate how they are putting the standards into practice. This year, applicants addressed the following:

· Respecting and advocating mutual understanding of the roles and responsibilities of board members and the superintendent.

· Adopting a collaboratively developed district plan focused on learning and achievement outcomes for all students.

· Providing for learning essentials, including rigorous curriculum, technology and high quality facilities.

· Measuring student academic progress and needs based on valid and reliable assessments.

· Ensuring district information and decisions are communicated community-wide.

Applications are evaluated by an independent review panel, and awards are given to those who receive at least an 80 percent score.

Issaquah School Board members are Brian Deagle, Chad Magendanz, Marnie Maraldo, Suzanne Weaver, Anne Moore. Stephen Rasmussen, Superintendent

Ferndale, Marysville and Prescott school boards have been selected as the 2011 School Boards of the Year by WSSDA. The announcement was made Friday evening at the WSSDA Annual Conference in Spokane.

The Marysville School Board was honored in the category for districts with more than 9,000 students, Ferndale for those with 1,001-9,000 students and Prescott for those with 1,000 or fewer students. The three districts were chosen from among 23 boards honored in 2012 as Boards of Distinction. 

WSSDA’s Boards of Distinction awards honor school boards that demonstrate effective use of the Washington School Board Standards. The standards, developed and adopted by WSSDA in 2009, promote researched-based governance practices that lead to high levels of student and district achievement. This was the first year that the association separately honored a board in large, medium and small district size categories.

“These boards have excelled as school governance teams,” said Dr. Jonelle Adams, the association’s executive director. “They provided extensive documentation and our evaluation was rigorous. They are exceptional school boards.”

By district size category, the other Boards of Distinction included:

More than 9,000 students – Auburn, Central Valley, Clover Park, Federal Way, Issaquah, Kent, Puyallup, South Kitsap and Vancouver.

1,001-9,000 students – Anacortes, Camas, Chimacum, Franklin Pierce, Lakewood, Monroe, Sunnyside, Tumwater, West Valley (Spokane), and White River.

1-1,000 students – Methow Valley.

As School Boards of the Year, Ferndale, Marysville and Prescott each received a $500 award for use by the board.

Members of the Ferndale School Board are Lee Anne Riddle, Stuart McKay, Kevin Erickson, Hugh Foulke and Andrew McLaurin. The superintendent is Linda Quinn.

Members of the Marysville School Board are Chris Nation, Wendy Fryberg, Tom Albright, Cindy Erickson and Pete Lundberg. The superintendent is Larry Nyland.

Members of the Prescott School Board are Karen Tonne, Sara Fletcher, Ada Gonzalez-Hernandez, Eva Madrigal and Erik Young. The superintendent is William Jordan.

Award-winning essays are made available to all school boards and districts in the state as an example of successful implementation of the Washington School Board Standards.

--Information from WSSDA