Starkville School District parent Anne Buffington recently was elected to serve on the Parents for Public Schools national board of directors.
Buffington in April represented the Starkville School District at the National Parents for Public Schools Conference and was elected to serve on the national board of directors.
Buffington, former president of the Starkville School District board of trustees, is the current president of PPS-Starkville.
“This is quite an honor and a coup for our local PPS chapter,” said William “Brother” Rogers, past president of PPS-Starkville. “Anne is a terrific ambassador for Starkville and is brimming with ideas to help promote the good news about the great things happening in our school district. We look forward to her continued leadership in this new role with our public schools.”
“I am humbled and grateful to have the opportunity to serve on the national board of directors for Parents for Public Schools,” Buffington said. “It will be an opportunity for me to interact with and
learn from PPS leaders from across the country who believe in the value of a public education and are working every day to strengthen our public school system.”
“We are very excited that Anne Buffington has accepted a post on the national board of directors for Parents for Public Schools,” said Anne Foster, PPS National Executive Director. “Anne brings a wide
background of professional and personal experience, including her service to the Starkville School District and as a parent volunteer. PPS has chapters across the country (from Seattle to Starkville), and we”re proud that our national headquarters is in Mississippi. Anne”s perspective as a Mississippi parent will be a great asset to our board and our work for strong public schools for all children.”
The theme of the 2010 PPS Conference was “Back to the Future.” During the three day workshop, PPS parents from across the country participated in workshops to build the skills parents and community
partners need to become fully engaged allies in public school improvement.
“As a participant in the conference, I learned the similarities among PPS chapters across the country outweigh our differences,” Buffington said. “It was beneficial to me and ultimately to our local chapter to hear creative ways that our PPS friends are tackling issues that we too face here in Starkville. I also realized how fortunate we are in Starkville. During a time when many public schools are faced with steep budget cuts, which involve severe cuts to programs and personnel, Starkville has a healthy financial picture and a strong administrative team committed to retaining certified teachers and
continuing the numerous programs which set the standard for other public schools throughout the country.”
“PPS-Starkville has always enjoyed a strong, cooperative relationship with the Starkville School District, and we look forward to taking SSD and PPS to new heights as we celebrate the completion of the 2007 bond issue construction and begin work on new initiatives in the coming school year,” Buffington said.
PPS is a national non-profit organization of community-based chapters working with public school parents and other supporters to improve and strengthen local public schools. Founded in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1989, there are 14 PPS chapters in 10 states. PPS-Starkville was founded in 1991 as the second oldest chapter in the country by Roy and Libby Pollard, who also served on the national board of directors for several years.
PPS believes that parents play an indispensable role in building quality schools and that strong
public schools are essential to a strong American democracy.
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