‘Out of touch’: High school student applies to serve on Boise School District board
Lizzy Duke-Moe, a senior at Boise High School, wants student voices to be heard.
She and her classmates are the ones who know what’s happening in their schools, she said. They know what students and teachers care about and what issues are affecting them — and they have ideas on how to fix them.
So Duke-Moe, 18, is trying out a new approach to bring those issues to the forefront.
Last week, she submitted her application to join the Boise School District’s Board of Trustees, after former Trustee Alicia Estey resigned last month and created a vacancy.
No students serve on the board. Dan Hollar, the district’s public affairs administrator, said he doesn’t remember a student ever applying to serve on the board in the past, but he couldn’t confirm it’s never happened before.
Duke-Moe hopes her application will help the board understand the importance of listening to student voices and maybe even encourage the board to create a youth spot.
“Having this perspective on the board would be so beneficial,” she told the Idaho Statesman. “The board is out of touch and needs someone who has real-world experience.”
She sees a gap between policymakers, classroom
In her application, Duke-Moe listed several issues she wants to address. She mentioned a lack of resources for English language learners — a need she sees in her own classes — and how she wants to fight for them to get the services they need.
She also pointed out how crowded some of her classes have become, so much so that students are having to sit in makeshift desks or on the floor, she said. The large class sizes make it difficult for students to get the support they need, she said.
“Students are suffering and so are the educators the board is supposed to protect,” she wrote in her application.
Her final issue: proximity. Other school board members aren’t in the schools, all day, every day. But she is.
“I have spent the last few months talking to teachers, administrators and students around the district, and the feeling that discussions about district policies do not reflect the truth of the classroom is palpable,” she wrote.
Duke-Moe said she is uniquely qualified for the position because she knows the problems and stressors students are experiencing now.
She is also a part of several groups and has leadership experience, she said. She is the All Student Body President at Boise High and is involved with Youth Salmon Protectors, Idaho Conservation League, Idaho Climate Justice League and March for Our Lives, among others.
Tamasyn Hill, a senior at Boise High, nominated Duke-Moe for the position. Hill described Duke-Moe as one of the most hardworking people she knows, and as someone who follows through on everything she does.
“She cares about people and she really cares about education,” Hill told the Statesman.
Hill, too, said she thinks having a student serve on the board would help make the opinions and perspectives of students known. Duke-Moe, she said, is also an advocate for many issues teens care about, including climate change, LGBTQ rights and racial justice.
“I think Lizzy would just overall do a really nice job connecting the out-of-touch school board with the students and what they need and want,” she said. “I just really hope that people see this … as Boise High (students) really wanting to have a voice in our community.”
If she is selected, Duke-Moe said she’d be eager to start hearing from more student voices. She also said she would remain committed to serving on the board after graduation. The new trustee would face an election in September 2022, according to the district.
One of the first things she would want to do is put together town halls so students, teachers and others could “air grievances” and highlight what matters to them.
But even if she isn’t chosen as a trustee, she said she hopes the board will consider adding a student position to the board.
The idea of a student serving on a school board is not unprecedented. The National School Boards Association found of the 495 largest school districts in the country, about 14% had at least one student board member as of January 2021.
Other candidates, timeline to fill trustee spot
The application for the vacant position in the Boise School District included a series of basic questions on why applicants wanted to serve as a trustee and what issues were important to them, but it also asked about a number of other issues relating to diversity and inclusion, and the pandemic.
Nine people applied to take the spot left by Estey. Most of the other candidates identified themselves in their applications as parents.
According to district policy, to serve as a trustee, people need to be at least 18 years old, an elector and resident of the district and “have no direct or indirect interest in district contracts.”
In their applications, several of the nine candidates emphasized the value of public education and how they want to fight for kids in the area to get the best education possible and be prepared for life after graduation.
Applicants identified several issues they would want to address as trustees, including improving communication with parents, advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in the district and advocating for the more vulnerable students.
Several applicants also said one of their focuses would be on the impacts the pandemic had on students. Parents said they wanted to keep students learning in person, address the gaps in instruction students experienced and make sure students, teachers and staff had adequate mental health resources. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children’s Hospital Association last month declared an emergency in children’s mental health.
On Tuesday, the board will meet to discuss which applicants will move forward in the process.
On Friday, the board will interview the finalists and choose the next trustee.
