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Trustees debate ambassador program; agree to better event coordination
Summary
Board members debated whether to assign trustees as official ambassadors to individual school buildings or to rely on flexible visibility; they agreed to pursue a unified events calendar and monthly board discussion to coordinate presence at school events.
The Iroquois Central School District Board of Education discussed whether to continue an ambassador program that assigns trustees to individual buildings or to adopt a more flexible approach to board visibility across the district.
Board President Jim Miklick argued against assigning a trustee to act as a formal representative for a single building. "I no longer agree with being an official ambassador to a building because we are trustees for the entire district and every building," he said, arguing that trustees should be free to visit any building and that administrators, not trustees, should advocate building-specific needs to the superintendent.
Trustee Heather Becker and others said they value the ambassador role for visibility and community engagement, noting that ambassadors attended PTO meetings and school events and helped ensure each building felt represented. Becker urged a practical approach to ensure coverage: a coordinated calendar of events and periodic board discussion so trustees can volunteer to attend specific events.
The board settled on next steps instead of a formal vote: the superintendent and district staff will explore a unified calendar or digital alerts that consolidate major building events; staff will provide options for how the board can regularly review and sign up for those events at monthly meetings. Board members emphasized the preference for voluntary, genuine attendance rather than a mandatory, checkbox assignment.
Trustees also discussed using the board's monthly agenda to highlight upcoming events and recommended that building principals and the district communications team include major events in the messages that the board receives, so trustees can plan attendance that supports visibility across schools.
