Editor, the News-Herald:

School boards are a mature and tested institution in Virginia. School board members make policy and personnel decisions; hire and negotiate contracts with employees; choose curriculum; adopt budgets and select a superintendent to administer the division.

They do all these tasks with the emphasis on what’s best for the children they serve.

Being an effective school board member is no easy task, particularly in today’s climate of change and challenge. School board members need to be knowledgeable about many complex educational and social issues, and carry out initiatives and directives from both federal and state governments. To face these demands of governing our public schools, they give countless hours of personal time.

Through dedicated, responsible endeavors, school board members serve the public interest in public education and serve the needs of our kids. They ensure that decisions about public schools are made as close to the needs of our communities as possible. Their public service is an excellent example for young and old alike, of the tradition of volunteerism that is a hallmark of American society.

February is &uot;School Board Appreciation Month,&uot; please take time to recognize our local school board members who make decisions that affect, influence, and direct the education of our youth.

Let’s say &uot;thank you&uot; to those who volunteer to participate in what is perhaps the purest form of grassroots democratic principles upon which our republic was founded.

School boards lead so students achieve!

Robert M. Brooks

President

Suffolk P.T.A. Council