Looking to get more information and making sure they do their job as effectively as possible, members of the Escalon Unified School District Board are planning a Governance Workshop on Thursday, Feb. 26 starting at 9 a.m. at the District Office Board Room on Yosemite Avenue.

“It is being put on in conjunction with the California School Boards Association,” explained EUSD Superintendent Ron Costa. “We went to their conference in December, a conference for board members, and our board wanted to go through another workshop with just our board.”

The goal, he said, is to make sure board members have as much information as possible to make informed decisions and keep their primary purpose in mind.

“We want to make sure we stay focused, meeting student needs,” Costa said.

The California School Boards Association, CSBA, will have facilitators on hand to run the session, which is slated to include the five board members and Costa. It is expected to run for the majority of the day, until about 3:30 p.m.

“It’s about developing a focus,” Costa added. “It is really like a training, where they (CSBA) can review how our board functions, how they can continue to improve.”

There is a cost to have the facilitators come in to put on the workshop, Costa said, but it is more cost-effective than paying for all five board members to attend another session outside the district.

The school board also recently named new officers for the year, with Richard Thompson named president (two-year term), Amy Bavaro tapped as vice president and Martha Coelho serving as secretary. The board also includes longtime member John Largent and newcomer Kate Powell, in her first year on the panel.