A Message From School Board President Zach Richardson
Sedona Az (November 6, 2016) – I want to take a few moments to acknowledge a major accomplishment our school district has achieved this year thus far and relate it to our presidential election.
“Make America Great Again,” is a slogan that as an American and veteran, I find confusing to say the least.
America is Great! We just require refinements from time to time. The reason we are great is because our founding fathers created core values found in our Constitution. These core values keep our country together in good times and bad.
Since its inception, our school district had no fundamental core values to keep us on track during good times and bad. This situation has hampered school boards and superintendents for more than 20 years.
These values cannot be created by a new school board or by a superintendent alone. They can only be achieved when dedicated school administrators team up with positive and enthusiastic community members to seek a common goal.
For the first time ever a team of administrators and community members are taking steps to accomplish this goal that will make our school district truly GREAT.
These steps include:
- Communication among school site councils incorporating active community participation that will create a unified vision.
- A comprehensive plan for staff development that benefits every child in the district.
- A unified curriculum encompassing a teacher mentoring and evaluation program.
- A more competitive teacher pay schedule resulting from the largest pay raise ever, which incorporated Proposition 123 and restructuring our district.
This school year has been the most productive our district has EVER experienced.
Our financial statements are yearly recognized for reporting excellence. Our new finance director, Lynn Leonard, and I discussed creating a simplistic Revenue and Expense statement and Balance Sheet for all to understand.
She is also unraveling the numerous confusing general ledger accounts and creating a system to financially empower staff. Her goal is to have this new format completed by fiscal year end, but keep in mind, she has only been on the job a few months, and this task is monumental.
With our district values coming together and financial statements simplified, everyone will see huge changes within our district. We must thank our hard working and dedicated staff as well as devoted community members for these accomplishments!
SOCUSD School Board President
Zach Richardson
*All opinions expressed in this article are mine alone and do not reflect school board policy.