For TinaRae Scott, a member of the Morris County USD 417 school board, successful public service is about relationships. This includes relationships with her community, with fellow board members, and with leaders across Kansas. It also includes relationships to help students and communities succeed.

Being selected to serve as 2024 KASB President is just the latest in a career that has seen TinaRae volunteer for just about everything possible, often finding herself leading the effort.

She spent most of her childhood in the nearby district of Emporia where she met Lancer Scott, from Council Grove. After graduating from Oklahoma Panhandle State University she joined a national agricultural corporation, working throughout the Midwest. She said that experience opened up the world to her. Parent health issues brought her back to the area. “It was supposed to be temporary,” she said, “but I never left.” After reconnecting with Lancer, she married and moved to Council Grove, where she was hired as a children’s librarian at the Council Grove Public Library.

“The library is a great place to get to know people in a community, from children to seniors,” she said. She was recruited to become director of the Council Grove and Morris County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism. When her children started school, she got involved in the Parent Teacher Organization and school site council. Community leaders saw her as a natural fit to head up a successful bond issue for the district high school. The mayor tapped her to head a task force that improved the 50-year-old community swimming pool. 

While she loves to talk, TinaRae says the most important thing she learned was how to listen. “I got to know the business owners and the people in that community. I volunteered in the classrooms, I sat at city council meetings and county commission meetings and was on various foundations or boards or organizations,” she said. As someone with children and long-time family connections to the community, TinaRae wanted to make sure that it continued to prosper.

Among all her community interests, TinaRae was particularly drawn to the school board. After a narrow loss for a board seat in 2011, she was elected in 2013 and has served ever since, including this current year as president. TinaRae says the school board differs from other public service because it can bring change quickly. “When you can add things or make changes you can see those results right away. You can see those graduation rates. The kids tell you what their successes are. You get to hear about their trips or their experiences. You get to know the staff. You really have an opportunity to be engrossed and ingrained in that work.”

It hasn’t always been easy or enjoyable. “I’ve served through budget cuts after the state tax cuts,” she said. “I’ve voted to close a building, and that doesn’t make you very popular.” She says dealing with controversial issues requires building good relationships among the seven school board members who have to decide.

“I think the hardest thing is getting to know the seven people who are sitting around the table and developing trust and a relationship with those people,” she said. While the board members represent different perspectives she says they all have the same goals in mind. These include the safety of students and staff as well as making sure they are providing the best educational opportunities possible. 

Once on the school board, TinaRae was drawn to KASB, in part because of her long-time interest in state and national politics, as well as local government. Before taking her position on the board she took the opportunity to learn the process. “I wanted to be able to speak to politicians about key legislative issues regarding our students. I knew that I wanted to serve in a bigger capacity, not only for my district, but for Kansas kids.”

TinaRae was accepted into KASB’s Leadership for Tomorrow, a program that gives school board members and administrative leaders an introduction to important issues and a chance to network.  She participated in the KASB Advocacy Institute and has been involved in the KASB Advocacy Network (KAN), advocating for KASB positions with local legislators. She has also been involved in federal education issues and represented KASB on a Commissioner’s task force overseeing temporary pandemic aid.

As KASB President, TinaRae has been focused on issues like making sure districts can pay competitive wages to maintain both licensed and classified staff, encouraging students to go into the education profession, and strengthening pathways for students to successful employment and life after high school.

While she has a strong sense of the Council Grove history, it is the future TinaRae is concerned about.  She says communities won’t thrive unless young people have the skills to thrive themselves, and many children won’t thrive without help to overcome barriers.

“That's what public education does,” she said. “And that's why I do this, because these kids need to feel valued,” She says children shouldn’t have to struggle for food, clothing, love and support. “If I can change the life of one kid, that's what makes all of these hours worth doing. Just continuing to give these kids opportunities to grow and learn and be able to do great things is why we're here.”