Broken Arrow Board of Education members Sharon Whelpley, Shari Wilkins, Stephanie Updike, Terry Stover, and Cheryl Kelly are among the over 2,700 elected school board members being honored by their schools and communities in Oklahoma as part of “School Board Recognition Month” for the board members’ untiring dedication to school governance.

School Board Recognition Month in January is celebrated by the 539 local and 29 Career Tech school districts in Oklahoma.

“The foundation of school leadership is ensuring equal learning opportunities for all students,” said Broken Arrow Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Gary Gerber.  “We’re proud of our district, and School Board Recognition Month is the time to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of our elected trustees.”

School Board members must develop policies and make tough decisions on complex educational and social issues impacting the entire community.  Board members in Broken Arrow bear responsibility for the district’s $100-million budget, 16,500 students, 2,000 employees, and the district’s many facilities including 25 school sites.

“We (the Board of Education) are a team that represents our community in order to represent the public’s voice in education,” Shari Wilkins, the current Vice-President on the Broken Arrow School Board, said.  “Our responsibility is to quantify those expectations and set agreed upon measures for our district and student achievement because in Broken Arrow Public Schools, excellence is a tradition!”

Broken Arrow Board members Sharon Whelpley (current President) and Stephanie Updike (current clerk) both said they typically spend about 10 to 15 hours a week on educational issues.  This past year has been anything but typical for the Board as they have completely redone school district policies, worked hard to pass the largest bond issue in school history and are in the process of hiring a new superintendent.

“We (the Board of Education) feel that we have done our homework for the past year by narrowing down the list of several (superintendent) candidates to the final two,” Whelpley said.  “We have had meetings, interviews, community input seminars and numerous executive sessions to accomplish the task at hand.  We take the selection of the new Superintendent of Broken Arrow Schools very seriously and will not cut any corners or leave a stone unturned to finally offer the position to the person we feel is the very best candidate.”

Updike agreed.

“I am very optimistic about the future of Broken Arrow.  We have great community support as evidenced by our recent bond issue, and I look forward to the announcement of a new superintendent.  I think that the public will be very pleased with the finalist candidates and that we can count on excellent leadership for BAPS in the coming years.”

For Updike, February marks the end of her tenure on the Board as she is stepping down after ten years of service (she’ll be replaced by Jerry Denton who was unopposed for the Zone 5 seat during the December filing period).

“In the ten years that I have been on the Board, I have been inspired by dedicated and talented teachers and students.  I have had the pleasure of getting to know people whose friendship I will treasure forever, and I have had the opportunity to grow and learn in ways that I would have never imagined.  I am grateful to the citizens of Broken Arrow for allowing me the privilege to serve.”

Dr. Gerber said Broken Arrow citizens should be grateful for the service from its school board members.

“School board members make tough decisions daily that affect Oklahoma children,” noted Dr. Gerber. “They (board members) preserve the core of our democracy-public education.”

Dr. Gerber presented each Broken Arrow Board of Education member with a certificate of excellence and thanks at the January Board meeting as part of School Board Recognition Month.