David is a true public servant. He is so giving of his time to help improve public education not only in Tennessee but across the nation as he serves as the 2013-14 National School Boards Association President.

Outstanding leader for public education!

Describing David’s contributions to the Association is difficult since the available supply of superlatives is limited. Our mission at TSBA is to assist school boards in effectively governing their school districts. One of the primary services TSBA provides to its membership is boardsmanship training and in 2007, David was instrumental in assisting with the purchase of a new TSBA headquarters that included two conference rooms in which we could more effectively conduct our training. His experience as an investment advisor and attorney has been invaluable to the Association. In addition to recommending a more updated and effective investment policy, he reviewed all contracts, prepared specific numbers and investigated financing options for the Board of Directors to review prior to the purchase of the new facility. Thanks to David TSBA was able to secure a loan with minimal closing costs. After the adoption of the new investment policy, David assisted the Board in transferring our investment funds to an endowment fund where the Association could avoid paying management fees.

David’s philanthropic efforts did not stop there. He single-handedly developed a Capital Campaign for the Association to defray costs associated with the construction, infrastructure, and meeting room equipment for the new headquarters. His campaign raised over $100,000 towards a goal of $250,000. David personally pledged $25,000 to equip one of the conference rooms and his local board of education pledged $10,000 to furnish and equip the Executive Director’s office. In 2008, the TSBA Board of Directors was able to pay off the headquarters’ loan.

In 2008, the Internal Revenue Service required all school districts to assume full responsibility for the administrative oversight and control of each district’s 403(b) Tax Sheltered Annuity plan and to develop a plan to address a comprehensive array of 403(b) administrative functions by January 2009. Under David’s leadership, TSBA entered into a partnership with a third party administrator to create for our member systems, The TSBA 403(b) Solution. The TSBA 403(b) Solution delivered a “turn-key” program that ensured participating school districts achieved full compliance with the new mandate. The TSBA 403(b) Solution ensured districts were fully compliant with all the new federal requirements. David was also instrumental in the creation of TSBA’s GASB 45 Trust (inter-governmental pool) so membership would have an effective way to offset the new accounting liabilities associated with employee post-employment benefits. He helped develop the inter-local agreement, bylaws and investment policy for the Trust.

TSBA offers an online board meeting service called Emeeting. This online program can create meeting documents such as agendas with attached supporting information and then post those documents online so they are accessible to board members and the general public, plus it results in saving a board of education time, money and the environment. David quickly saw the potential of the technology and convinced his local board to become the first school board in the state to use the service. David continues to help promote this product, through our publication ads and at our meetings across the state. Thanks in part to his efforts, we now have several systems using the service and interest continues to grow.

David’s decision-making ability and dynamic personality have enhanced our Board’s ability to weather adverse conditions and direct our association efforts toward promoting public education and student achievement across this state. David is a tireless advocate for public education.