The National School Boards Association (NSBA) is happy to announce that Charlie Wilson of Ohio’s Worthington City Schools was elected as its new president. Viola M. Garcia of Texas’ Aldine Independent School District will serve as President-Elect and Frank S. Henderson, Jr. of Kansas’ Seaman School District 345 will serve as Secretary-Treasurer. ElizaBeth “Beth” Branham of South Carolina’s Lexington School District Two will now serve as the association’s Immediate Past-President.

“I congratulate Charlie Wilson and NSBA’s officers and board members,” said Thomas J. Gentzel, NSBA Executive Director & CEO. “Our elected leaders play a significant role in executing NSBA’s mission. Their expertise as ambassadors of local governance strengthens NSBA’s ability to advocate for public education, provides resources to our members, and helps secure federal policies that prioritize public schools and the students they serve.”

Charlie Wilson
Dedicated to public education and an active member of his community, Wilson has served on his local board since 2007. In 2013, Wilson served as president of the Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA), and he has served on the OSBA Board of Trustees, Executive Committee, and numerous other regional and state committees. Following his term as OSBA president, the Central Region elected Wilson as their representative to NSBA’s Board of Directors. Wilson has taught as an associate professor at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law for more than 30 years and earned his law degree from New York University School of Law.

“I am honored to serve as NSBA’s president and to champion public education at this critical juncture in our nation’s history,” said Wilson. “Amid the rapidly changing COVID-19 crisis and an unprecedented time of uncertainty, securing vital supports that will enable public schools to continue to serve more than 50 million students has never been more important.”

Viola M. Garcia
Garcia has served on her local board, the Aldine Independent School District Board of Trustees, representing Position 7 in Texas, since 1992, making her the longest tenured member of the district. A member of the Mexican American School Board Members Association, Garcia has also served as that organization’s president. Garcia served as a regional director, secretary-treasurer, president and past-president of the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB). Currently a professor at the University of Houston Downtown, Garcia has promoted educational programs and students by training future teachers for local school districts including Aldine.

Frank S. Henderson, Jr.
Since 2007, Henderson has served on the Seaman USD 345 School Board in Topeka, Kansas. Henderson is a past president of the Kansas Association of School Boards and a former commissioner with the Education Commission of the States, in addition to holding other leadership roles on various school committees and work groups. In 2015, Henderson was elected to serve as a Western Region Director on NSBA’s Board of Directors. Henderson is the Deputy Director of the Topeka Rescue Mission.

ElizaBeth “Beth” Branham
A longstanding school board member and public school advocate, Branham has served on her local Lexington School District Two school board since 2000, served as president and a member of the board of directors with the South Carolina School Boards Association, and is active with many education, community and business organizations. Branham is the first South Carolinian to hold the office of NSBA President. Branham started her career as an educator, teaching English at Brookland-Cayce High School, South Carolina. She later earned a law degree and today has her own practice in West Columbia.

NSBA’s 2020-2021 roster of board members include:

Northeast Region

• Jacob Oliveira, Ludlow Public Schools, Massachusetts
• Devin Sheehan, Holyoke Public School District, Massachusetts
• Lydia Tedone, Simsbury Public Schools, Connecticut

Southern Region

• Pamela Doyle, Alabama School of Math and Science, Alabama
• Ronald K. Hopkins, Jefferson City Schools, Georgia
• Beverly Slough, St. Johns County School District, Florida

Central Region

• Kathryn Green, Austin Public Schools (ISD 492), Minnesota
• John W. Halkias, Plain Local School District, Ohio
• Donald R. Hubler, L’Anse Creuse Public Schools District and Macomb Intermediate School District, Michigan

Western Region

• Kathy Gebhardt, Boulder Valley School District, Colorado
• Janine Bay Teske, Teton County School District, Wyoming
• Floyd Simon, Jr., DDS, Clinton Public Schools, Oklahoma

Pacific Region

• Peter Hoepfner, Cordova City School District, Alaska
• Marnie J. Maraldo, Issaquah School Board, District 2, Washington
• Kristi Swett, Salt Lake City School District, Utah

Ex-officio Directors

• Jacinto Ramos, Jr., Chair of the Council of Urban Boards of Education, school board member, Fort Worth Independent School District, Texas
• Armando Rodriguez, Chair of the National Hispanic Council of School Board Members, school board member, Canutillo Independent School District, Texas
• Devin Del Palacio, Chair of the National Black Council of School Board Members, school board member, Tolleson Union High School District, Arizona
• David Snyder, Chair of the National American Indian and Alaska Native Council of School Board Members, school board member, Fremont County School District #21, Wyoming
• Kirk Schneidawind, Chair of the Organization for the State Association Executive Directors, Executive Director, Minnesota School Boards Association, Minnesota
• James A. Keith, Chair of the Council of School Attorneys, Adams & Reese Law Firm, Mississippi
• Thomas J. Gentzel, Executive Director and CEO of the National School Boards Association

“I want to thank Beth Branham and the outgoing board members for their tireless work for NSBA and the schoolchildren in their district,” said Gentzel. “Their commitment to public education and, more recently, helping their community during this unprecedented crisis caused by the coronavirus is inspiring.”

As the leading advocate for public education, NSBA has played a key role in securing federal funding, legislation and regulations that help school districts take important actions to realize educational equity and to meet students’ educational, safety and nutritional needs. NSBA is working on initiatives that would secure full funding and modernization of the Individual with Disabilities Act, expansion of E-Rate, and other supports that enable local education leaders to deliver for their students.