Public service requires public trust

Lisa Carlberg ... Rochester school board member (Courtesy photo)

"As elected school board members, we are entrusted with one of the most important responsibilities in our communities: helping guide the education and well-being of our children. With that responsibility comes an equally important obligation- earning and maintaining the trust of the public we serve.

Across our community, I consistently hear from families, staff, and residents who want to better understand what is happening in our schools. These are not abstract concerns. They come from people who are engaged, invested, and trying to support their children and their schools. Their request is not complicated: they want clear, timely, and accessible information.

School board members operate within a governance structure, and that structure matters. We are not individual spokespeople for the district, and we must respect roles, responsibilities, and the integrity of the decision-making process.

But governance should not come at the expense of communication.

When communication becomes overly restricted or unclear, it creates a vacuum. And in that vacuum, frustration grows, trust erodes, and the community begins to feel disconnected from the very institutions meant to serve it.

Public service does not begin and end at the board table. It extends into how we engage with our community, how we respond to questions, and how we ensure that families feel informed, not managed.

Elected officials also have a responsibility to communicate thoughtfully with the people who elected them. That responsibility should not be minimized, and it should never be approached in a way that discourages open dialogue or chills engagement.

This does not mean every answer can be given immediately, nor does it mean every discussion belongs in every forum. But it does mean we should continually ask whether our current approach is building trust, or if it's unintentionally weakening it.

Strong communities are built on trust, and trust is built on transparency. If we want engaged families, informed residents, and confidence in our schools, then communication cannot be treated as an afterthought or a risk to control.

It must be treated as a core responsibility.

As we move forward, I believe we have an opportunity to do better- not by choosing between governance and transparency, but by committing to both with intention, clarity, and respect for the community we serve."

Lisa Carlberg is a Rochester resident serving as a member of the city's school board from Ward 4. She would like to share that all opinions stated here are her own and not representative of the Board as a whole.