South Tama School Board- seated- Michelle Yuska, president and Mark McFate, vice president.. (Standing, l-r) Jackie Dvorak, Alan Kline and Penny Tyynismaa. -South Tama Schools photo

Facts from The Iowa Association of School Boards

Role of School Board Members-

Vision: The school board engages the community in setting the course to guide local education, keeping student achievement as the primary focus.

Structure: The school board employs a superintendent, adopts policies and plans, and ensures that human and financial resources are allocated to accomplish the vision.

Accountability: The board monitors student achievement, evaluates progress toward district goals and reports progress to the community.

Advocacy: The school board serves as the key advocate on behalf of students and public education and builds partnerships with others to support student learning.

Time Donated to Public Education: Iowa school board members are volunteer elected officials who donate their time to school board service. Each week, school board members donate their personal time in service to Iowa students.

K-12 School Boards

Iowa has 336 school districts with five or seven member school boards. School board members are elected by their local communities in an election held the second Tuesday of September in odd-numbered years. They may be elected at large or from director districts and serve four-year terms.

K-12 Public School Board Data

Board seats in Iowa – 1,908

Male board members- 63%

Female board members- 37%

Student enrollment 2015 -16- 483, 4511

Total budget dollars 2015 -16$5.3 billion