January is School Board Recognition Month

Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Friday, January 16, 2009

That Amanda Ferguson’s parents were both teachers helped shape her outlook on learning.

“Education was always important in my family, and I always loved school,” said Ferguson, a member of the Fayette County Board of Education.

It’s a big jump from volunteering with a local PTA to developing policies for the entire district. But Ferguson, 42, digs in to study the crucial issues.

“She always does her homework and isn’t afraid to ask questions,” said Mary Browning Wright, the district’s chief operating officer. 

Elected in 2006 to represent District 4, Ferguson balances her board responsibilities with full-time motherhood. She has a preschooler, another daughter at Cassidy Elementary and a son at Ashland Elementary. 

“When my son started school, I wanted to be involved,” said Ferguson, who first joined the PTA at Cassidy. Now as a school board member, she sees all the county’s kids as her own.  

“I consider it a community service,” she said. “This is the thing I’m most passionate about – education and kids bettering themselves through learning.” 

Among her main emphases are ensuring that each child is challenged and engaged in the classroom and pushing middle and high schools to achieve the same progress as the elementaries in recent years. Another cause close to her heart is expansion of the Spanish immersion tracks at the elementary-school level.  

“I would love to offer foreign language to every student who wants it,” said Ferguson, who studied French and Spanish. 

A runner who has completed a pair of half-marathons, she doesn’t shy away from a challenge. And that includes joining the school board. 

“I knew it would be a huge learning curve. There’s so much to know about so many different areas,” Ferguson said. “It’s been fascinating to realize how much the school district does encompass.” 

Wright praised her diligence, noting that she has absorbed a lot as a member of the Budget and Finance Committee.

“One of things Amanda brings is a varied perspective,” Wright said. “She was a very successful student-athlete for Fayette County schools, so she grew up with the system and has seen it from a number of different perspectives. She’s seen it as a student, she’s seen it as a parent, she’s seen it as a board member. That gives her a well-rounded and different insight as to how the system operates and what we need to be doing to support all kids.”

Did you know?

• A member of Centenary United Methodist Church, Ferguson earned a bachelor’s in psychology from the University of Kentucky and a master’s from Vanderbilt University.
• She and her husband, Todd, have two daughters and one son.
• She’s quite athletic: Ferguson has run in two half-marathons, plays tennis, hikes and kayaks.