on state Board of Education

Staff Report

Former Pike County Board of Education President Linda Steed has been re-elected to a top leadership post in the Alabama Association of School Boards.

Steed, a member of the Pike County school board since 1984, was re-elected AASB first vice president Dec. 7 during the association’s annual business meeting in Birmingham. She was re-elected without opposition and officially began her second term on Dec. 9. AASB bylaws allow officers to serve two consecutive terms.

"Linda is an education leader who truly has the best interests of every Alabama student at heart," AASB executive director Sandra Sims-deGraffenried said. "AASB has relied on her during the last year to represent the interests of school boards on a number of important projects. Always, Linda approaches the challenges with energy, commitment and enthusiasm."

Among those projects is a committee of school board members and superintendents that is working to streamline state laws related to education. The year-long project has been a mammoth undertaking, but is intended to make the education code easier to understand and research.

Steed also is serving on a newly-formed team of education leaders that is working to define and clarify the roles of school custodians of funds in the wake of a recent attorney general’s opinion. In addition, she served, this year, on the panel that selected Alabama’s three winning educators in the Milken Family Foundation’s annual awards program.

In addition to serving as AASB first vice president, Steed served as the association’s second vice president from 1997 to 1999. Prior to that, she represented 21 southeast Alabama school boards on the AASB’s Board of Directors for five years. She also has served on a number of AASB committees and frequently meets with her local legislative delegation to discuss proposed legislation that would impact school children or education, in general.

Steed has worked at the regional and national levels for passage of legislation and policies important to local school boards.

Her dedication to improving her boardmanship skills is evident, as she has earned Master School board Member status in AASB’s School Board Member Academy eight times.

The award-winning academy is an ongoing school for school board members. Members earn credits by attending training sessions and completing a required core curriculum to move up through the academy’s four levels. Once a board member has completed all four levels, he or she can earn the Master School Board Member distinction annually by continuing training.

Steed’s commitment to improving her boardmanship skills was one reason for her selection as an All-State School Board Member in 1997. The honor, AASB’s highest, is presented each year to up to five current or former school board members who exemplify the highest standards of school board service.

In addition to her local and statewide efforts, Steed has worked at the national level as well, serving on the National School Boards Association’s Federal Regulations Network since 1994. Through FRN, school board members from throughout the country meet with their congressmen annually to discuss pending or upcoming education issues and how Congress’ action could impact local school systems.

Steed currently is a delegate to the NSBA annual convention. In 1999, she served on the NSBA Nominating Committee, which interviews and selects officers for NSBA, and she has been elected to serve again for 2001. This year, she served on the NSBA Resolutions Committee and she previously has served on the nominating committee for NSBA’s Southern Region.

The Alabama Association of School Boards represents all the state’s public local school boards. For 51 years, AASB has worked to preserve local lay control of public education. The association is headquartered in Montgomery and provides members with an array of services, including boardmanship training, risk management programs and policy research.