The OSBA Board held its annual in-person September meeting near Klamath Falls over the weekend with two important pieces of business: To elect 2027 officers and to consider an OSBA governance resolution.
The officer part was easy. On Friday night, the Board unanimously elected Nancy Thomas of the Hillsboro School Board as president-elect, Tristan Irvin of the Tigard-Tualatin School Board as vice president and Kraig Albright of the Dayton School Board as secretary-treasurer.
Two current officers will automatically move into new roles Jan. 1: José Gamero-Georgeson of the David Douglas School Board will become president, and Dawn Watson of the Phoenix-Talent School Board will become past president.
On Saturday, the OSBA Board delved into a deeper conversation about how the Board can be more effective, efficient, engaged and responsive. The OSBA Board Governance Committee reviews the association’s bylaws every three years. It spent months working with the Coraggio Group and surveyed members and OSBA staff, held focus groups, and conducted individual interviews. The engagement led to multiple suggestions to improve the Board’s structure.
The Board passed a resolution that will go out for a membership vote. The resolution includes structural and technical bylaw changes to address the governance committee’s proposals.
Member school boards will be able to vote on the resolution starting Oct. 15, and OSBA will post the resolution on its website along with accompanying information to explain the changes. OSBA will share more information with members in coming weeks, including at its Fall Regional Meetings, which start Monday, Sept. 21.
On Sunday, the Board heard a presentation on education funding, accountability and student outcomes from Pooja Bhatt, founder of the Oregon Network for Education Excellence. Bhatt made the case that Oregon’s public education system needs more structural and systems alignment to achieve its goals for students.
OSBA Executive Director Emielle Nischik said one of OSBA’s goals is to help shape a statewide vision for public education excellence. OSBA has partnered with Bhatt and the Coalition of Oregon School Administrators to develop a common understanding of the current education system for more productive discussions with legislators, the governor’s office and communities.
“This was an opportunity for Board members to learn together so they can help drive the challenging work of creating a more coherent and effective system to benefit all our students,” she said.
– Jake Arnold, OSBA
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