MONTGOMERY, AL – (August 2012) – Fifty-three school boards from across the state will receive the seventh annual AASB President’s Award at the Alabama Association of School Boards district meetings Aug. 16-Sept. 13 in nine geographical regions.

The Talladega school board and boards in Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, Etowah and Talladega counties will receive their awards at the District 6 meeting Sept. 13 at the Classic on Noble in Anniston. Larry Stewart, who comes off the Calhoun County school board, will lead his last fall meeting as District 6 director. The AASB Board of Directors will appoint a successor to complete Stewart’s term that ends Dec. 7, 2013. The district also includes school boards in Anniston, Fort Payne, Gadsden, Jacksonville, Oxford, Pell City, Piedmont, St. Clair and Sylacauga; in Attalla and DeKalb counties; and the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind board. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. with networking, and dinner is at 6:30 p.m., followed by a 45-minute program. School board members earn 1 credit hour in the AASB School Board Member Academy for the session.

“The AASB President’s Award is presented to boards that have had at least 60 percent of their members attend three or more School Board Member Academy courses in the 2011-12 academy year,” said AASB President Steve

Foster. The academy year ended June 30. “This award inspires school boards to take seriously their roles as education leaders, community representatives and advocates of student achievement,” Foster added. “AASB has

always striven to provide school boards meaningful training and educational opportunities to strengthen their

leadership and boardsmanship skills. To benefit from that training, boards must exhibit a level of commitment to

learning all they can about education issues and effective governance.”

District meetings are held within a reasonable driving distance and provide school board members with one hour of low-cost, educational programming. This fall’s topic, Angry Birds: Actions That Will Guarantee Legal Headaches, answers common legal questions about board operations, open meetings, ethics, personnel decisions,concussions in student athletes and prevention of gender discrimination. The task of presenting the session to all nine districts will be shared by three members of the Alabama Council of School Board Attorneys. AASB President-elect Katy Smith Campbell is a member of the Macon County Board of Education and founder of Katy Smith Campbell and Associates law firm. Alicia Bennett is a partner in the firm of Boardman Carr Hutcheson and Bennett, and Taylor Brooks is an attorney with Lanier Ford Shaver.

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