Elected and sworn in: New school board members inducted

Elected and sworn in: New school board members inducted

Photo credit: Gianna Roux

By Connor McGrail, Intern

On Jan. 5 three new board members, Sean Cotton, Ginny Jeup and Valarie St. John, were sworn in to the GPPSS school board. Superintendent Jon Dean believes these new members will make an impact on what is upcoming for the district and what standards they can uphold for the students.

A topic the new members will get to discuss will be the multiple construction projects coming to the district, according to Dean. This will be addressed in the Jan. and Feb. board meetings. 

“We’ve been talking about the future of middle school pools and the completion of moving [South’s] art department over to the main building,” Dean said.  

In addition to conversation regarding construction, the board will be discussing the school systems budget for the upcoming year. Dean praises the newly sworn in members for wanting to take on the job.

“[The] community is very fortunate to have people that want to volunteer their time to become school board members,” Dean said. “The three candidates that were elected were the [ones] that resonated most with the voters.”

According to Dean, the district has a long history of excellence and cherishes its students. The new board members will strive to sustain the district’s needs and wants in order to help uphold said excellence.

“Our community has really high standards in terms of instruction for kids, expectations for kids, and financial integrity of the district,” Dean said. “I know [the new board members are] all committed to upholding those and continuing to raise those bars for everyone.”