To be effective, organizations need good leadership, including public education.

The apex of leadership for primary and secondary public education comes through boards of education. State and federal laws give school boards the power to develop policies governing school budgets, curricula, and school facilities. The board employs the superintendent; maintains relationships with the community as well as with teachers’ unions; sets and follows a budget; and cooperates with other local officials and governing bodies to achieve objectives. This means a good school board member needs to possess certain key characteristics: Establish a clear vision – a board member must have a clear vision of the goals for the district; works well on a team – be willing to hear other points of view and build consensus; focuses on students – not to lose sight of the main priority: the students; uses data to drive decisions – proficient in gathering and analyzing relevant data to make decisions.

Bret Malone is running for a seat on the Lynchburg Clay Board of Education and he checks all of these boxes. How do I know this? There are two reasons: 1.) I have known Bret all of his life; and 2.) I am a 28-year school board veteran of Lynchburg-Clay.

Bret’s primary focus will be on the students with the first decision making filter that he would consider is “what brings about the best outcome for the students of Lynchburg Clay?” Bret will also use data to drive those decisions while keeping biases at check. Bret has the ability to listen well to all input and work towards consensus as part of team. He also has a clear vision that the Lynchburg-Clay school system will serve as the foundation for building the next generation of productive citizens for our community and our country.

The voters of Lynchburg-Clay would be well served by electing Bret Malone to the Lynchburg-Clay Board of Education.

Steve Allen

Lynchburg