It is truly a pleasure to serve you as the Chair of the Cumberland County Board of Education. As a supporter of the proposition that all children can learn, and that a strong public school system is the cornerstone of that belief, I look forward to this year. The year 2013 will present some challenges to our system. Although we have faced funding cuts for the past four years, we have maintained strong reserves to see us through the tough times and our staff has done an excellent job of educating our students. In fact, based on the last set of tests, we are a high growth district. We have exceeded the state in composite test scores, as well as our graduation rate for every high school. Our achievement gap has closed to one of the lowest in the state, and this occurred while raising the test scores of 93 percent of our students.

We also understand our responsibility to create a safe environment for all students. Although our schools are safer than they have ever been, we realize there are new challenges. Working with the Sheriff’s office, we have sworn deputies available to our schools. Through an agreement with the County Government, we have nurses available for all our schools. We ask the cooperation of the community to report incidents to administration immediately.

Cumberland County is a community that cares for its children. We realize they are our future and we are obligated to make this a better place. The nine member School Board accepts the responsibility to help set a high standard for all students. We are committed to creating the best opportunities for our children.

You will hear people in our district talking about getting to “True North.” It means that every child will achieve their potential.

Together, we can make it happen.