Lebanon Special School District Board Seeks To Add More Members To Better Serve Community
Image Credit: lssd.org
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
The School Board for Lebanon Special School District (LSSD) in Wilson County is seeking to add more members to the 3-person board to better serve the community.
The district currently serves over 4,200 students in Pre-K through 8th grade. Meanwhile, over in Williamson County, the Franklin Special School District, which has a little less in numbers of students enrolled, has 6 members on their board.
LSSD school board presides over 5 elementary schools and 2 middle schools and has had 3 members since 1901. The board members are elected one at a time every 2 years during local general elections and serve a 4-year term.
A lot has changed in the community since the original legislative act that established the current size of the school board that governs LSSD. As more people have moved to Lebanon, the school system has grown, including the number of schools, the number of teachers and the size of central office. School boards all across the middle Tennessee area have at least 5 members.
In order to expand the board, the 3 members must have a majority vote in favor of the proposal, just 2 of the 3 members, and then it will need to go to the state legislature for approval.
A petition seeks input from the community over adding 3 more members, in alignment with the current number of city council members.
LSSD board member Joel Thacker says that the addition of more board members would create more accountability. “We have a 45 million dollar budget and need representation to ensure all funds are appropriately spent,” he said.
Having only 3 members is problematic when 1 member is absent at a meeting. Thacker says that he was approached by a group of parents over the possibility of expanding the board.
“I’m here to serve the people. Adding more school board members would give more access to the public to have a say in children’s daily education,” said Thacker. “I took an oath to serve everyone, which should be my focus as a public servant.”
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
I was raised in Wilson County/ Lebanon Tennessee back in the day Lebanon was known as little Chicago due to the corruption in local government. Huge problem with elections in Wilson County is the lack of accountability and transparency from government offices. You can notice how defensive they are when nearly every judicial office is hidden behind closed doors where cameras are no longer allowed. They do this they say to protect privacy but in effect what it is done is so that they can say whatever they want and then deny it later. The camera is the ultimate in government transparency device there is no arguing what an official said in a meeting with a parent or other citizen when it is being recorded. In fact it should be standard procedure whenever you deal with any government official to require that the entire conversation be recorded So there would be no argument about who said what at any later time.