School board seeks applicants

PALMER — Until Nov. 6, the Mat-Su Borough School Board is accepting applications from candidates hoping to replace departing board member Erick Cordero.

“This is a public service opportunity to serve your community. The duties include: preparing for and attending twice monthly meetings and occasional special meetings; studying all material presented with the agenda prior to attending meetings; participating in the discussion of any items that come before the board; voting on all motions and resolutions, abstaining only for compelling reasons; being prepared and willing to devote a sufficient amount of time to the study of education in the district, the state and the nation,” reads the public notice the board put out.

After the Nov. 6 deadline, the board will decide on a public meeting at which to interview candidates. At the end of the meeting the board will appoint a new member, who will serve until October 2014.

Cordero said that if his tenure as a board member is any indication, new members should expect to encounter a steep learning curve.

“There are so many acronyms and words that they use and terms that they use, and unless you’ve been in education you have no idea what they’re talking about,” he said. “One of the things that they gave me when I first became a school board member was a list of acronyms.”

He said that as far as workload goes, it’s actually kind of malleable. A member could chose to sit on a committee that takes a lot of work — school site selection — or one that isn’t so much work — charter schools.

Members can also decide for themselves how many public events to attend.

“I know that some board members are extremely active. Member Sarah Welton tries to attend every single event,” he said. Toward the end of his tenure, Cordero said, “I had two jobs and a commute, so it was difficult for me to attend most of them.”

He said that lately, meetings have gotten shorter and more efficient. The late superintendent, Ken Burnley, implemented a policy of encouraging school board members to call staff with questions that came up as they read the packets of documents prepared before each meeting.

“That has helped a lot, especially for board members that in the past would ask a lot of questions during the meeting,” Cordero said.

Still, there are things that just make meetings last longer or occur more frequently. Picking a new superintendent, which Cordero was involved in twice as a board member, is one such time-consuming activity.

“Once it gets to the budget season you have more meetings and more details and more presentations,” he said.

But one of Cordero’s biggest pieces of advice for whoever replaces him would be to acquaint yourself with the division of powers at the school district. The board sets policy, Cordero said. Administration runs the show — decides who to hire, what to teach, etc.

“Even myself I made the mistake of sometimes not being a policy maker and trying to tell them how to do their job,” Cordero said.

Even more important, though, is to keep the kids in mind.

“You know what? It’s a very rewarding experience because, at the end of the day, it is all about kids,” Cordero said. “Stop thinking about the adults and the issues and concentrate more on the kids, because all of the little arguments and a lot of the things that are dealt with in the school district are more about adults and very little bit about kids.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270

or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.

Applicants for the Mat-Su Borough School Board can submit a résumé and cover letter before Nov. 6 to School Board, 501 N. Gulkana St., Palmer, AK 99645; fax 761-4076; or email Stacy.Escobedo@matsuk12.us.

For more information, call 746-9272 or visit matsuk12.us. Applicants will be interviewed in a public meeting, after which the board will appoint a member to fill the seat.