EV Board Loses Experienced Member

The turnover among Spokane Valley school board members continues.

East Valley School Board lost five-year member Marie Francis last week. Francis resigned after having moved out of the district. Her resignation created the third opening on the East Valley board in recent months.

Freeman School Board announced last week that Bill Adams will fill an opening created by Ron Fulkerson’s resignation earlier this summer. Adams served four years as a board member in the early 1990s.

“You hate to lose a good board member,” said Freeman Superintendent Bill Thurston. “But it’s really great to have an experienced person to replace him.”

West Valley’s school board also has had significant turnover, with three out of the five board members coming on in recent months.

“I’ve really enjoyed representing children’s needs,” Francis said. “That has been an honor.” Francis explained the move, which puts her family just across the boundary into the Central Valley School District, by saying she and her husband are downsizing now that their two older children have left home.

East Valley Superintendent Les Portner said Francis was a particularly valuable board member because of her analytical approach to each issue.

“She had the big picture view,” Portner said. “She didn’t go off on personal tangents … She wanted to know what was best for kids.”

The opening must be filled by someone who lives in East Valley’s District One, which is bounded by North Pines Road from its northernmost point, south to Mission Avenue; west to Woodruff Road on the south of Interstate 90, and Butler Road on the north of I-90 north to the Spokane River and west to Trent Road.

Interested candidates should contact the East Valley School District office and file an application by Sept. 29. Selection of a new board member is likely to follow by the end of October.