The Lisbon and Fort Ransom school districts have been collaborating since 1967, 14 years before I was born. Many generations of my family and others that are still around have gone to schools in both districts. Our schools’ and community pride run deep.

In 2011, the Lisbon school board had a vacant seat, and one of the members told me I should consider it. As they say, the rest is history. I have now been on the board for longer than I attended Lisbon as a student. I was in 7^th grade when Dr. Steven Johnson became Lisbon’s superintendent. When I joined the school board, I became one of his bosses. After I was elected president of the board in 2015, we developed a strong working relationship.

Serving as the board president has really opened my eyes to the role our schools play in terms of being a big part of the community. The district is one of the largest employers in the area, and many community activities—including school basketball games and band concerts, and 4-H Clubs and nonaffiliated sports teams—are tied to it in one way or another. Positive community relations are very important to helping the district thrive.

Because Dr. Johnson was superintendent of both districts for almost 30 years, he has long-standing, close personal relationships with lots of people involved. There’s also a lot of trust in him. That’s probably why Fort Ransom started the discussions with us for the reorganization instead of reaching out to any other of the surrounding districts or just dissolving. For Lisbon, it was not a question of whether we would work with them, but what would it look like for us to help. We have so much history between our two communities. It was kind of a no-brainer.

And because of our long history together, the process of reorganization has been super different here from what it would be for other districts. We were able to capitalize on those relationships and have open discussions about the entire process, which allowed us to give Fort Ransom a nicer end to their legacy than just closing their school doors.

Fort Ransom also brings assets to the table, including a couple of buses that we will bring into the fold that would have just been auctioned off. The addition of Fort Ransom’s students will increase our payment from the state. The reorganization also resulted in two separate district land bases—ours and Fort Ransom’s—becoming one. And while Lisbon isn’t getting any actual land, our district will be receiving tax income from Fort Ransom’s former land base in the new arrangement. The Lisbon school district has spent so much time pinching pennies, we have nowhere to squeeze but to cut programs because state increases are getting smaller and smaller. The reorganization will allow us to better serve the students of both communities.

The Lisbon school district has also been open to community ideas for how to utilize Fort Ransom’s school buildings, including its schoolhouse. This has gone a long way toward helping the Fort Ransom community feel supported. In the Lisbon community, showing that we will be able to serve Fort Ransom students without adversely affecting the quality of education for all students has kept everyone looking at the reorganization in a positive light.

The Lisbon school board approached the process of reorganization with the common goals of student success and maintaining community support. We reassured the Fort Ransom school community that Lisbon would keep a dedicated bus route and increase its school board to include an additional member of the Fort Ransom community for a transition period until 2030.

Being a school board member can be very challenging at times—salary negotiations, budget analysis, administrative hiring, and tracking changing state rules and regulations can start to add up—but keeping the lines of communication open with administrators and the people in your community is crucial to maintaining a good working culture. I believe actively communicating with key community stakeholders like athletic booster clubs, members in the banking community, business owners, and community development groups plays a big part in the relationship the school board has with the district and the community.

For me, actively communicating means answering phone calls, taking in-person meetings, speaking at different local meetings, and being seen around town, visiting with people face-to-face, instead of only sending out emails and newsletters as sources of information. There are always going to be difficult conversations and differences of opinions, but open and honest conversations help navigate those challenging times.

I go into our board meetings with an open mind and try to listen more than I speak because I value others’ input and believe I can learn from their experiences and opinions. I try to go into any process or a meeting humble. From my dairy and farming background, I believe that I can always learn something by listening to other farmers that I can use to make my farm better.

I know that if I dominate a board meeting or spend all the time talking, I’m not going to learn anything new. I tell new board members, always be sure to say what you think, even if it’s a dissent. Say your point because maybe your point is something that no one has thought of, and it could change the entire room.

Having open, honest discussions helps our board work through all ideas, whether they are good or bad, so that we can come back to what we are all focused on in the first place: providing the best education and experience possible for the students and staff of the Lisbon public school district.