Vidor School Trustees named Outstanding School Board

The Vidor I.S.D. School Board of Trustees has been named as the Education Service Center Region 5, 2020 Outstanding School Board of the year. The Vidor I.S.D. Trustees beat out 32 other Region 5 school boards to win their nomination to be considered as an Honor School Board of the Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA) and from there, to be possibly recognized as the State of Texas Outstanding School Board by TASA and the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) this coming fall.

The Vidor I.S.D. School District Board of Trustees consists of David Camp, Board President; Mike Marion, Board Vice President; Rollie Burr, Board Secretary; Natalie Long; Carrie Vincent; Gina VanDevender; and Michael Helms.

V.I.S.D. Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Jay Killgo, nominated the Vidor I.S.D. School Board for the honor.

Region 5 Educational Service Center selected the Vidor I.S.D School Board as the 2020 Outstanding School Board among all Region 5 School Districts who were nominated for this year’s award.

The Vidor School Board was selected by Region 5 based on ten criteria as documented by supporting material submitted by the Vidor I.S.D. Superintendent of Schools.

Those criteria are as follows:

The ability of the Vidor School Board to function as a school policy-making body is the first criterion. The Board was evaluated on policies they have revised in the past two years as well as new policies they have established. Region 5 also examined the Vidor School Board’s willingness to allow time to evaluate new board policies prior to their implementation, and their willingness to accept input on new policies from staff and parents.

The adherence of the Board to policies it has adopted was the second criterion. That adherence included a review of the Board’s procedures for policy-making, frequency of policy review, and openness in publishing those policies.

The support of the School Board for educational performance that adheres to stateestablished standards is the third criterion. That support includes evidence that the Vidor School Board has actively supported programs that contribute to student high performance.

Fourth is the School Board’s support for educational improvement projects such as new technology, innovative new district initiated programs and support for facility planning and other school district improvement plans.

The fifth criterion is the School Board’s commitment to a code of ethics including evidence of ethical practices adhered to in dealing with the professional staff both collectively and individually and demonstrations of commitment on the part of each board member to the “Ethics for School Board Members”.

The sixth criterion demonstrates how the Vidor School Board provides financial support for the school district.

The remaining criteria evaluated by Region 5 examined individual efforts of the board members to participate in workshops and other self-improvement education, to be involved with school district public awareness efforts, to maintain harmonious and supportive relationships with each other and the individual efforts of Board members to place the welfare of the school children they serve above their own personal or political motives.

As the Region 5 winners of the Outstanding School Board of 2020, the Vidor School Board become one of fourteen Texas School Boards of Trustees to be nominated for this year’s 2020 TASA School Board Awards statewide.

The TASA’s School Board Awards Committee will meet virtually in early August to select up to five of those fourteen nominated school boards to be recognized as Honor Boards. Those Honor Board finalists will be interviewed this fall, and the 2020 Outstanding School Board will be announced at the annual TASB/TASA meeting.