That was one of the lessons learned by Marysville School District officials who recently attended a national convention on professional development in Nashville, TN.

School board member Chris Nation in order to teach the “whole child,” districts need to partner with outside entities.

He also talked at a work session May 18 about hiring the “highest quality” teachers. He learned of one district that during the hiring process actually has candidates teach in front of a class to prove that they can connect with kids.

“That’s the type of thing we need to think about if we really want to put kids first and get the best teachers,” Nation said.

School board member Bruce Larsen said his favorite concept he learned at the National School Board Association conference was one small Utah town where kids were involved in everything.

“We’re an open book, and it works for us,” he said they told him.

Student involvement was paramount, in everything from school board meetings to union meetings to social media communications.

“And they haven’t failed a levy or bond in thirty-two years,” Larsen said.

Jason Thompson, the district’s human resources director, attended sessions on technology and law.

He said the district is “miles ahead” of others when it comes to technology, not only in the devices it has but in the learning that is done with them.

But he is concerned about lawsuits nationwide.

“The cost of doing business keeps going up,” Superintendent Becky Berg said. “Pressure is at an all-time high” leading to more legal issues.

“The pressure is all over the nation,” Thompson said.

The school board had a short discussion on basically what would be called a rainy day fund. Nation said small projects are constantly coming up so why not set up a percentage to be placed in a fund that could replace things such as furniture, boilers or roofs? Then the district wouldn’t receive “Oh my God” calls when something goes wrong, Lundberg said. “We need to be good stewards of money and self-sufficient, and sometimes not rely on a levy,” Nation said.

Also, finance director Jim Baker said the state “finally is picking up a little more of the tab.” He said schools will have all-day kindergarten next year, which will save $93,000 without midday school buses.