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The Methow Valley School Board will allow two high school students to serve as student representatives beginning this spring, the board announced at its meeting Jan. 8.
The move is spearheaded by directors Judith Hardmeyer-Wright and Boo Schneider, who have been in communication with South Kitsap, Anacortes, and Oak Harbor School Districts about their programs with student advisors.
Washington State School Directors’ Association (WSSDA) is also promoting the program. All active student board representatives in Washington are eligible to join the Student Representatives Network (SRN), which meets monthly during the school year to connect students to “issues and topics regarding K-12 education in Washington state.”
Hardmeyer-Wright said she was excited about the program after speaking with student representatives from other school districts at a WSSDA conference in Seattle this past November.
“As we went to last year’s WSSDA and this year’s WSSDA, we were very aware of how important and how integral student voice is on the board. We met many of the students who were representatives and their enthusiasm kind of sparked ours like, well, okay, let’s get started,” Hardmeyer-Wright told the board.
MVSD’s Policy 1250 already allows student representatives on the board. Hardmeyer-Wright’s and Schneider’s draft proposal closely resembles MVSD’s procedures adopted by WSSDA in 2011 and MVSD in 2017.
All three school districts the board consulted with have standard procedures, but they’ve implemented them differently. Sometimes students come to board meetings, sometimes the board goes to the school to meet with students, or there’s a hybrid. Hardmeyer-Wright recommended a hybrid.
Two students would be chosen by the school board- a high school junior and a senior. Each would be non-voting student representatives to the board. They would serve one year terms beginning in June and ending in June the following year. The junior could reapply for the position, Schneider suggested.
Schneider told the board the proposed responsibilities, qualifications, application, and interview questions will be presented to the board in February.
Superintendent Grant Storey said he is excited by the development and will solicit feedback from administrators, teachers and students. Storey said he would be looking qt this again at the next board meeting.
Since it’s a procedure attached to a policy already adopted by board, it doesn’t need formal approval, but Storey said input from all parties is important.
