Baugh to receive NYSSBA President’s Award

FOR RELEASE: December. 1, 2010

CONTACT: David Albert
(518) 783-3716 or (518) 320-2221 cell

Florence Baugh, the former president of the Buffalo city school board, will receive the 2010 President’s Award from the New York State School Boards Association.

NYSSBA President Florence Johnson will present the award to Baugh in a special ceremony during the Buffalo Board of Education meeting on Wednesday Dec. 1. NYSSBA gives the annual award to recognize those who have made outstanding contributions to public education.

“This year, I chose to honor one of our community’s unsung heroes,” said Johnson. “Florence Baugh is someone who has dedicated her life to helping the poor and disadvantaged across Western New York.”

Baugh, who has twice served as the president of the Buffalo Board of Education, is viewed as a trailblazer in the community and someone who helped end segregation in Buffalo schools in the 1970s, according to Johnson.

“Throughout her career, Florence has brought together communities rich and poor, big and small in the name of children and education,” Johnson said. “For her, community-building isn’t a buzzword or part of a job description. Rather it is a way of life.”

Baugh has served on the Western New York Education Services Council and is the former president of the New York State Conference of Large Cities Boards of Education. Baugh currently serves as Director of Neighborhood Services for the Community Action Organization of Erie County.

The NYSSBA President’s Award was created in 2000 in order to recognize individuals or organizations that have made significant contributions toward the betterment of public education in New York. It is the highest tribute that the Association bestows outside its membership.

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