The (Non-)Separation of (Rural) Church and School (Board Conferences)

Those who follow my blog are aware of the fact that since May I've been serving on the local school board. I'm thoroughly enjoying my time on the board thus far, despite the fact that much of our conversation centers on administration as opposed to education.

As part of my term, I'm required by TASB (Texas Association of School Boards) to receive at least ten hours of educational workshops this year to become oriented to my task.

JB and I fulfilled that obligation last weekend with a trip to the Summer Leadership Institute at San Antonio. I went to some interesting sessions...and some that were less than interesting, but I wanted to tip my hat specifically to the final session I attended on Saturday morning.

Three superintendents (Brock, Groesbeck, and another school I've forgotten off-hand) held an excellent panel discussion on "Attracting and Keeping Teachers in a Small Rural School District."

While the particulars of the panel were quite interesting, and while I definitely hope to install and implement several of the policies I heard discussed, I was struck by the fact that someone had the foresight to hold this breakout session. I've mentioned the plight of the rural church a few times previously, and I would assume the plight of the rural school to be quite similar. The breakout was held twice; both times it had large crowds (over 100 participants each time). The panel provided great insights; the crowd asked interesting and relevant questions; and the take-aways were immediately applicable.

It was hard not to envision a similar breakout at similar church leadership conferences that are held all over the nation each year.

If you're in charge of one of those church leadership conferences, and you happen to read this...well, I think it could be worth your time.