Greensboro, Ga. — For a third consecutive year, the Greene County Board of Education has received the Georgia School Boards Association’s (GSBA’s) Exemplary School Board recognition, the highest award level in GSBA’S 3-tier Board Recognition Program.

The GSBA recognition program is designed to showcase best practices in school governance and leadership and requires a high level of commitment from school boards and individual members. GSBA recognizes good school board governance to foster educational community cultures in order to advance student learning and achievement. The ultimate goal is to provide a platform based on governance standards which challenges boards but creates a culture of success for students and communities.

In order to obtain the Exemplary Board award, the Greene County Board of Education met a comprehensive set of criteria set forth by GSBA.

“The process of obtaining this award really began with the implementation of our district strategic plan, which requires continuous improvement by the Board of Education in the form of training on legal issues, board ethics, school finance and state funding, equity, and more,” said Dr. Chris Houston, Superintendent. “I would like to congratulate our Board on achieving this recognition of their excellence in self-governance.”

The quality of the district’s strategic plan was a major focus of the application process for the Exemplary Board award. The application required the Board to show evidence of the plan’s implementation process via a balanced scorecard or other accountability system, and for the system’s strategic plan to incorporate at least 15 of the Georgia Vision Project’s local school district recommendations.

Another part of qualifying for the Exemplary Board title required a thorough self-assessment by the Governance Team (Board and Superintendent), as well as an assessment of the Governance Team’s performance by an Exemplary Committee, which must be composed of at least two community stakeholders, two Board members, and a District Office administrator. The criterion on the assessment instrument examined the processes, procedures, and best practices utilized by the Governance Team in providing school district leadership.

And as with the other recognition levels in the GSBA Board Recognition Program, the Board was also required to demonstrate fiscal responsibility in the form of a balanced budget, complete state-required BOE training classes, maintain compliance with Cognia accreditation standards, and annually review and abide by the Board’s local Code of Ethics policy.