School Boards: Their Duties and Responsibilities

Justice Cooley comments on the office of member of a school board as one of public trust, “and from the nature of the duties attached, is one of the most important.” Cooley notes that while this office may not be as exalted as other positions, “it deals with interests which concern every household, and upon which the highest interests of the State and the nation may at last depend.” His reverence for the vocation is expressed in his closing, where he asserts that “As it is the manifest purpose of the Almighty that body and mind should alike be developed, expanded, and strengthened by exercise and training … the school officer need be in no doubt; he is in the line of duty and safety when he is working in harmony with the evident purposes of his Creator ….