Superintendent initiates plans for creating student advisory board

Superintendent Dan Good is creating a student advisory board to get input from high school students about what issues are important to them.

The process for selecting the board members will begin the second week of November, Good said. He does not know exactly how many students are going to be on the board because he is not sure what the interest level will be, but he is willing to make multiple groups if many people are interested and will change the frequency of meetings depending on the interest shown.

Each student who is interested in being on the board will be required to give a 60 to 90 second presentation, Good explained. A panel of adults will view the presentations via Zoom, he added.

Good said he thinks that the presentations will probably happen over the course of three nights with three different panels.

 “I think it’s so important the adults in our community hear from the children in our community and know that this pandemic has had a profound impact on all of us, socially and emotionally, as well as intellectually and physically,” Good said.

Good said that he and his secretary Mary Davis have discussed who they want on the panel of people listening to the Zoom presentations. He said they decided that because Bexley is a community school, it is really important that a good representation of the community and its leaders are on the panel seeing why students feel they should have a say in the decision making. They are considering having the Chief of Police Larry Rinehart, Mayor Ben Kessler, and the City Council President Lori Ann Feibel, but none of these people have been confirmed yet, Good said.

Good doesn’t have a set number of meetings or a frequency in mind and is open to suggestions from students. He said in former districts, he has had monthly meetings and quarterly meetings depending on the student interest and involvement. 

“We want to work around students’ schedules,” Good said. “It would be hypocritical if I didn’t make myself available when I want their advice.”

In addition to students being able to bring their own concerns to him, Good will also bring big decisions to the board to get their input on the situation.

He said that he is willing to listen to any issue that a student brings up.

“It could be issues such as our current hybrid situation, issues on teaching and learning curves if you’re in quarantine, it could be issues relating to which extracurriculars we offer, issues related to equity and inclusion in our district, and whatever is on students’ minds,” he said.  

Good said in the past he has made many changes that his students have suggested, including changing the lunch menu and changing the school mascot. 

“It’s just another way to keep students engaged,” Good said. “Treatment of the people is very, very important to me.”

He likes to use the board as a way to understand the students, Good said, and he thinks it helps students have a better relationship with him too. 

“I want to know what students feel about things and how we can grow our system together so that it helps everyone achieve their full potential,” Good said. “That’s really what education is all about.”