Board should OK Coast Guard seat

The Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Board of Education has an opportunity to help make history in North Carolina if it agrees to add an ex-officio seat to the board that would be occupied by a locally stationed member of the U.S. Coast Guard.

We encourage school board members to take that step.

Capt. Carol Bennett of Base Support Unit Elizabeth City has formally requested that the school board add a non-voting Coast Guard representative to the board. Adding a Coast Guard voice, she pointed out, will further strengthen the ties between the service and local schools as well as acknowledge the Coast Guard’s tradition of involvement in the community.

The mechanism for seating a member of the Coast Guard requires that the school board pass a resolution supporting the ex-officio seat. Then that resolution has to be approved by the Legislature, which, according to Rep. Bill Owens, D-Pasquotank, likely would make it a statewide provision allowing other boards to do the same where military bases are located. Once approved by the General Assembly, the school board would vote to seat the Coast Guard’s representative as an ex-officio member.

Bennett’s request followed several weeks of community and official discussions of the idea first publicly recommended last month by school board member Bill Luton. Luton, who had discussed the idea with local Coast Guard officials, has been the board’s strongest advocate of Coast Guard representation on the board. Lately, his efforts have gained traction among residents and businesses, where support has been evident and growing.

And why not? We’re hard-pressed to see how Coast Guard representation on the school board would not be good for local education.

There’s even a precedent that illustrates why this is a wise endeavor. Last month, The Daily Advance interviewed Samuel Jordan, an executive officer stationed in Kodiak, Alaska, who has served 18 months as the Kodiak Island Borough School District Board of Education’s Coast Guard representative. Jordan, who said the Coast Guard has held an ex-officio seat on that board for a decade or more, confirmed that the position has been productive for the schools and the Coast Guard. Jordan serves as conduit between Coast Guard families and the local school board. And his services go both ways, such as providing the Kodiak school district with information regarding transfers in and out of the school, so that the schools can plan for class sizes and staffing needs.

Having a Coast Guard representative on the school board makes sense for other reasons, too. For instance, Coast Guard and other military personnel are prevented by federal law from running for elective office. Yet, they live in many communities where they contribute as volunteers, as a source of expertise and in schools as teachers, tutors and in other capacities.

Because they are barred from seeking elective office, the ex-officio capacity allows them an opportunity to formally provide input and the benefit of their experience and expertise to local education. It’s a win-win for the school district and the Coast Guard.

For residents or school board members who may be nervous about it, there would be no legal mandate requiring ex-officio members on any board — only the option to fill the seat if the board agrees to it.

Still, with so many of its members’ children populating local schools, the Coast Guard has a legitimate stake in the well-being of education. And as Capt. Bennett’s request illustrates, these good citizens are more than willing to step up do their part by serving. It seems like a logical extension of the Coast Guard’s local involvement.