Karen Gray, President of the Board of Trustees of Silver Valley Unified School District, has been recognized by the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools (NAFIS) with the Friend of NAFIS Award. The award, which celebrates recipients for outstanding contributions to the Impact Aid program, was presented at the 2019 NAFIS Fall Conference in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 26.
Impact Aid reimburses school districts for the loss of revenue caused by the presence of nontaxable Federal property, including military installations; Indian Trust, Treaty and Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act lands; Federal low-rent housing facilities; and national parks, national laboratories and other Federal buildings and property. It helps ensure students who attend schools on or near Federal property have access to a quality education.
Gray has been active in the Impact Aid community and NAFIS for nearly 20 years, since joining the Silver Valley Unified School District (where nearly 70% of students are military-connected) Board of Education in 2001. During this time, she has worked to serve all parts of the Impact Aid program and bridge gaps between its different constituencies. She is involved in the Military Impacted Schools Association (MISA) through the school district and is personally an associate member of the National Indian Impacted Schools Association (NIISA). She also supports the state-level work of the California Association of Federally Impacted Schools (CAFIS).
“Karen has played a key role in ensuring the unity of the NAFIS Family,” Executive Director Hilary Goldmann said. “In addition, she works continuously within California to educate on Impact Aid and build strong connections between the state’s federally impacted school districts and the national Impact Aid community, strengthening our advocacy efforts. I am pleased NAFIS is recognizing her with this award, and I look forward to continuing to work with her to ensure that students in federally impacted school districts have access to the educational opportunities they deserve.”
In addition to her service on the school board and work on Impact Aid, Gray is currently a member of the California School Boards Association Board of Directors, Co-Chair of the San Bernardino County District Advocates for Better Schools and part of the Newberry Springs Community Services District Strategic Planning Team, among other community service activities.