FOR RELEASE: Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Holt Updates Guidebook to School Bond Success
Carleton R. Holt
When he recently updated his book, School Bond Success: A Strategy for Building America's Schools, for its third edition, Carleton R. Holt included three case studies using the second edition of his guidebook for planning a building project and bond campaign.
Holt is an associate professor of educational leadership at the University of Arkansas. The case studies in the new edition of his book describe how the information in it was used to turn bond failures into successes. Published this month by Rowman and Littlefield, the book also includes a forward written by Anne L. Bryant, executive director of the National School Boards Association.
Bryant will include the book in a recommended list to be displayed at the annual conference of the National School Boards Association in San Diego in April.
Holt updates the status of school facilities in the United States and provides information on the relationship between school climate and student achievement. The book also includes a discussion of the importance of technology in school bond issues and construction.
Several reviews of the book cite the practical assistance offered by the book.
Steve Jenkins, associate professor of educational leadership at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, calls the book a must-read for every school board member, superintendent and aspiring district leader.
"I have used every edition of the text in our superintendent program, and it has become the superintendent bible for successfully passing and managing school bond issues," Jenkins said. "It is an imperative resource for everyone involved in school finance and 21st century leadership."
Holt earned bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees from the University of South Dakota and has his advanced superintendent certificate from Iowa State University. He served as a band director, coach, and school administrator in the public schools in Iowa and South Dakota for more than 30 years. He joined the faculty of the College of Education and Health Professions in 1999.