MARSHALL — An information session for prospective Marshall Public School Board candidates drew interest from around a dozen people on Wednesday evening.

Community members stayed to ask questions about the role of the school board, and what to expect if they ran for office.

MPS Superintendent Jeremy Williams said it was exciting to see the number of people who attended the meeting.

“We didn’t know what to expect,” he said.

However, with half the school board’s seats up for election this fall, the district wanted to help potential candidates be informed, he said. The timing of the information session also came as MPS was developing a new strategic plan for the district.

The three board seats currently held by Jeff Chapman, Sara Runchey and Aaron Ziemer will be up for election in November, Williams told the audience. The filing period for school board candidates opens Aug. 2. All the MPS board seats are at-large.

A presentation by Ray Queener, of education consulting group TeamWorks International, was the main focus of the information meeting. Queener said the role of a school board was different from that of a city council.

“School boards govern, and councils manage,” Queener told the audience. “The hard part is, most of the public doesn’t know the difference.”

As a group with governing authority, the school board is responsible for things like school district policies, performance oversight, and public engagement. Meanwhile, the superintendent, district administrators and principals are responsible for managing the district’s resources, procedures and staff, Queener said.

Knowing that difference could help school board candidates avoid campaigning on issues they aren’t personally able to change, he said.

Queener said it was also important to know that school board members only have authority when they are in a quorum.

“Individual board members have no authority and a lot of responsibility,” he said.

Audience members also asked what kind of time commitment to expect if they ran for school board at MPS.

“Board members typically serve on one or two committees,” in addition to regular school board meetings twice a month, Williams said. School board members also get contacted by community members, like parents or members of the public. “There’s a lot of it,” he said.

Queener said TeamWorks International has seen increased interest from school districts in giving prospective board candidates information and training.

The consulting group used to do a lot of workshops with new board members in January, at the beginning of their terms.

“A few years ago, we started getting calls to come out in the fall,” and then before election season started, he said.