The Board of School Directors of Wyomissing Area School District performs three fundamental functions: planning, setting policy, and evaluating results. These functions are performed on behalf of the residents of the District and in fulfillment of the duties delegated to the board by the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
The central responsibility of the board is to establish policies for the governance of the board and for the safe and orderly operation of the school district. The concept of local control of education means the policies governing our schools are to be formed in response to local needs and desires. The board also approves the school district's budget and establishes the millage rate.
BOARD ORGANIZATION
Officers of the nine-member school board include the president, vice president, treasurer, and secretary, with the superintendent of schools serving in an ex-officio capacity. The law firm of Saxton & Stump serves as solicitor for the Wyomissing Area School District.
According to state law, our board organizes in December. At that time, a president and a vice president are elected to serve one-year terms of office. A treasurer is elected in May to serve a one-year term that begins in July. Every fourth May the board elects a school board secretary whose term of office is four years.
Wyomissing Area School District is assigned to the Berks County Intermediate Unit (BCIU), which is governed by a board composed of locally elected school directors from the 18 school districts in Berks County. BCIU board members serve three-year terms and may succeed themselves without limitation as long as they remain local board members.
THE ROLE OF THE BOARD
The board serves as a local legislative body for the school district within the framework of state law and can only act at public meetings. Outside of the public meetings, individual board members have no authority. As a group, the board invites and gives serious consideration to the administrations' recommendations.
School directors represent the interests of the general public, which includes the children in our schools. No one else is legally charged with that responsibility. Serving on a school board is a difficult and demanding task. Although the job is unpaid and requires a considerable sacrifice of personal time and energy, this form of public service produces many worthwhile rewards, the best of which include seeing the youth of our community endowed with the benefits and advantages of a high-quality public education.
Letters to the board or to individual board members may be delivered to the District Office.