PineApple Report | By PineApple Report Staff | June 9, 2022
At the 2020 Florida School Boards Association (FSBA) Annual Summer Conference, School Board Vice-Chair Dr. Steve Gallon III was the recipient of the FSBA 2022 President’s Award for Unparalleled Leadership at the State and National levels. Dr. Gallon was recognized for his courage, leadership, and selflessness during politically divisive, and difficult times before, during, and since the pandemic.
In the midst of local, state, and national discourse around matters in which public school boards responded to and addressed responsive measures for student and staff safety, as well as measures regarding accountability and use of federal resources, Dr. Gallon has been an unwavering voice of advocacy, inclusion, and transparency on issues that often created partisan divisions at local, state, and national levels.
Dr. Gallon, as Chair of the powerful and prominent Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE), relinquished his chairmanship in light of positions taken by the National School Boards Association, and has since, provided leadership to FSBA and state associations across the nation in the transition and formation of a new, inclusive, non-partisan organization advocating for and supporting public schools and their students. He has played a critical role in the establishment of Consortium of State School Boards Associations (COSSBA) which was founded in late 2021 by state school boards associations. A non-partisan, national alliance dedicated to sharing resources and information and supporting and strengthening state school boards and their local school districts, COSSBA is now comprised of 22 states—nearly half of the state associations in the country. He is also leading COSSBA’s Urban Board Alliance which is focused on supporting districts serving the nation’s most fragile and challenging student populations.
FSBA saluted and thanked Dr. Gallon for “modeling selfless public service and superb integrity in sacrificing personal influence for the benefit of colleagues across Florida and the United States.”
“I am tremendously humbled and honored to receive this prestigious recognition, and accept on behalf of all of my colleagues, and those who stand in service, support, and solidarity for all students across Florida, and throughout the nation,” Dr. Gallon said. “Our focus must never be driven by our stand on a political side of an aisle, but where we stand in the education, uplift, and empowerment of students and their families.”
