S-T ISD Trustees Attend San Antonio Leadership Conference

S-T ISD Trustees from left to right: Cipriano Guerra, Esequiel Ortiz, Daniel Gonzales, Rick Olivares, Ysrael Salinas, Superintendent Dr. Brett Belmarez, and Keith Petrus (not pictured - Ken Haggard)

S-T ISD school board members joined trustees from across the state at the Texas Association of School Boards' (TASB) Summer Leadership Institute June 14-16 in San Antonio. More than 2,500 new and veteran school leaders received in-depth training on every facet of effective board governance.

Thursday's general session featured Tonea Stewart, actress, director, educator, and humanitarian, who also is a tenured professor and director of theatre arts at Alabama State University. In her session, My Grandmother's Hands, she inspired attendees to keep believing in children and in the work they do for districts while reminding them to put aside self interest, work toward unity, and rally on behalf of children and their communities.

Hot topics explored during the two-and-a-half day institute included emergency management, student safety on the Internet, pre-K programs, and clear communication on testing and accountability results. Breakout sessions focused on such topics as school prayer, environmental and facility-related regulations, bond proceeds management, public engagement through district planning, construction budgets, and education technology trends.

TASB is a nonprofit association established in 1949 to serve local public school districts. Texas school board members are the largest group of publicly elected officials in the state. The districts they represent serve more than 4.5 million students.