Members of the Jefferson City School Board deserve to be commended for beginning to tour district facilities.
Five of the seven members reported Monday on their recent visit to Jefferson City High School, the first of 18 district facilities on the schedule.
The tours have both a practical and symbolic purpose.
First, as the school district lays the groundwork for a facilities plan, the tours provide them a first-hand look at each building's assets and deficiencies.
In addition, the district is working to rebuild trust among patrons, who will be asked to support a future ballot issue.
Trust - as Superintendent Larry Linthacum has said - will take time.
It also will take - as we wrote in this forum Sunday - a unified effort among faculty, administrators and board members.
School Board President John Ruth has expressed the sentiment that touring facilities is not a "typical" role for board members.
We agree. Board members are elected to establish policies to be carried out by administrators. Micromanagement by board members can do more harm than good.
But touring district buildings must not be equated with micromanagement.
Instead, the tours demonstrate the district's elected officials are devoting time and effort to engage building administrators, teachers and students in the classrooms where learning take place.
In addition, the tours show educators all are moving in the same direction and working toward the same goal - to improve education for students.
In doing so, board members are leading the effort to establish the trust and momentum needed to attract patrons, parents and students to get on board.
We wrote Sunday that these are not typical times for the Jefferson City School District.
Similarly, leadership doesn't always follow typical patterns. We applaud school board members for their flexibility and commitment.