Love Thy School Board

Thus, there is a School Board Recognition Month offensive, which, depending on the jurisdiction, can get intense.

In Loudoun County, every year a group of elementary school students serenades board members with a musical performance and gives them gifts that they created. (On Tuesday night, students from Sanders Corner Elementary in Ashburn will have the honors at the board's meeting.) In Fairfax County, Superintendent Jack D. Dale gave a small speech praising board members at a recent meeting, and they were scheduled to receive certificates at a work session planned for today.

Two years ago in Ohio, two superintendents, who had each received kits with ideas on how to fete school board members, sent nearly identical letters to their local newspapers, entreating the public to perform many tasks for their board members, such as inviting them out for coffee and writing them thank you notes.

But in the District and Maryland, recognizing board members is viewed as a low priority. "We give it minimal attention. I don't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing," said Carl W. Smith, executive director of the Maryland Association of Boards of Education. "We kind of try to focus on the substantive issues."

It is difficult to pinpoint a time when the country's first school district carved out a time period for recognizing its school board. In Virginia, it began in 1989 with a week of appreciation. Apparently, that wasn't appreciative enough, and it was expanded to a month.

"Nowhere in our civics classes as we grow up does it mention that school boards and school districts are governing entities in governing jurisdictions," said Frank E. Barham, executive director of the Virginia School Boards Association. "We're left out of it."

Around 1993, Barham said, a friend of his in the Clinton administration procured a congratulatory letter to Virginia school board members from the president. In 1995, the National School Boards Association caught on and began sponsoring National School Board Recognition Month, and more states followed suit.

In Prince William, parents praised the School Board for helping improve the system's profile in recent years, particularly amid increasingly tough accountability measures, but some remain a bit puzzled. "It's an elected position. Do we have a congressional recognition month?" asked Conor Lafferty's father, John, a Homeland Security Department employee, who nonetheless thought the assignment was harmless.

Recently at Woodbridge Senior High School, freshmen in Alyce Watson's art class settled into their seats. "Attention. . . . We're doing something really special today. This is something I'm calling a 'pride poster,' " she said.

Watson explained that the drawing assignment of the day was to honor the School Board. She pointed out possible captions: "Without you, we never would have made it this far." "There is no 'I' in the word team. Thanks for being part of ours."

"I don't get exactly what we're doing," Racquel Thomas, 15, said to the teacher. " Who are we thanking?"