A lot of people know that the school board exists, but don’t know what it is. Oftentimes, people underestimate how important it is for our schools. The funding needs to be adequate, the curriculum has to be high quality, safety has to be overseen, and matters pertaining to the district’s schools have to be addressed. These are all things that our school board has to take into account at any given time. The school board also has many other public responsibilities: they have to listen to student, teacher, and public voices, while trying to do what’s best for them and the school.
The school board president is, by law, tasked with representing the board as a whole, protecting board processes, and speaking publicly for the board. But for the current president, Kristen Fauson, the border between board president and board member isn’t so large. Although our school board works together on most things, Mrs. Fauson’s presidential duties range from working with the superintendent to set monthly meeting agendas, running monthly meetings, and acting as the spokesperson of the board when people have questions.
Naturally, working on the board doesn’t come without challenges. One of Mrs. Fauson’s biggest challenges is trying to incorporate public voices into the decisions they make. While there are so many people with a variety of opinions, it’s not easy to incorporate most of them into one voice. And with seven different people on the board, another problem arises: finding a consensus. Differing opinions are common among board members as well, and it’s up to the board president to make sure at the end of the day everyone understands that their role is a governing position and not an operating position.
Further interested in the school board operations from the school board president’s perspective, The Central Trend recently reached out to Mrs. Fauson with a few questions.
As the school board president, what is your role? As the school board president, I work as one of a team of seven board members to oversee the school district. The board establishes the mission and vision for the district, adopts district policies, and ensures that the budget is being spent in line with district priorities. The superintendent is in charge of running the district day-to-day, and the board evaluates his performance on how well he does that. As the board president, I don’t have any more say in district policies than any other board member, we are a team. But some of the specific things that I do as president is to work with the superintendent to set the agenda for our monthly meetings, run the meetings, and act as the spokesperson for the board if anyone has any questions for us.
What are some of the biggest challenges on the school board, and how are you working around them? As the board president, I want to make sure that everyone’s voice is heard as decisions are being made; staff, students, and community members all have a role to play, and so does the board. It’s important to hear from everyone in order to make the best decision we can to move the district forward. And while we want to hear from everyone, at the end of the day the board needs to come together and come to a consensus and speak with one voice, which sometimes can be challenging if people have differing ideas about what is best. Another big challenge is making sure everyone understands the board’s role is a governance role, not an operations role. The board doesn’t get involved in the management of operations, that’s the superintendent’s job. Understanding the distinction can be difficult sometimes, but it’s important that we stay true to our roles so that the district operates efficiently.
How do you incorporate Ada residents’ ideas or opinions into the board decisions? The board loves to hear from students, parents, and community members. We all have email addresses that people can write to us about things they wonder about. We’re also pretty involved in the community so people can just ask us questions when they see us at football games, concerts, or other school events. Sometimes there are specific groups that the district has to get feedback from, like Student Advisory Council, Parent Advisory Councils, Equity Advisory Councils, etc. We also have specific sessions if the district wants feedback on a particular issue, like whether we should approve a new cell phone tower, how new safety and security measures are being implemented, or what things the community wants us to consider in our strategic planning.
How did you transition from the previous superintendent to the new superintendent, and what challenges did you face? We’ve actually had two transitions. Dan Behm was the FHPS superintendent for 17 years, and he retired in July 2023. We then had to interview and bring in an interim Superintendent while we looked for a permanent replacement. We brought in Sara Shubel, a former superintendent from East Grand Rapids for a year to serve as interim, and then we just hired Ben Kirby to be our permanent replacement, and he started in July. It’s actually been quite exciting to have new people in this role—they bring in new ideas, new ways of looking at issues, and new energy to the district.
What motivated you to run for the school board? I was one of those kids that always loved school. Each year was better than the last—high school was better than middle school, college was better than high school, graduate school was better than college. I loved how much I was able to learn and grow and experience because of the opportunities I was given through education, and I wanted to do something to give back and hopefully make today’s kids love learning as much as I did. I felt I had the right mix of time, ability, and desire to get involved in Forest Hills. FHPS has always been an amazing district, and I hope as a board member I’m helping it to continue to improve and be a great district for all kids.
What is your vision for the Forest Hills District? My vision is the same as the district’s vision: All Learners Achieving Their Individual Potential. What that means to me is that the district works to make sure that all kids are learning as much as they can in the way that works for them. We have so many great programs in the district—from our regular classrooms, to Goodwillie Environmental, to lots of AP offerings, to language immersion, to CI classrooms, and so many more. There is something for everyone, at every level. I want everyone to get as much as they can from their time in FHPS to then be able to go on and lead meaningful and productive lives.
If any, what changes are coming that will influence the students, and do you think it will have a high impact on students? Our community just passed a bond to update a lot of our facilities. Central High School is set to get a full remodel starting this summer, which will provide wonderful new spaces for students—more open spaces for collaboration, we’re flipping the art and woodshop areas, updating classrooms, bathrooms, the auditorium, and more—there’s not an area of the school that won’t be touched. Outdoor spaces will also be improved, including new baseball and softball fields, lighting the second turf field, and expanding the tennis courts. Our hope is that these updates will provide more inviting spaces and areas for students to be able to interact with each other in new ways to expand their learning.
