Heather Fralick will leave the Shoreline School Board Sept 12

Heather Fralick will leave the Shoreline
School Board Sept 12, 2020

Heather Fralick, School Board Director for Director District 2 and current President of the Board, announced that she is resigning her position, effective September 12, 2020. 

She provided a statement about this decision at the August 17 school board meeting which can be found below. Director Fralick was sworn onto the Board on December 4, 2017. 

“I want to thank Director Fralick for her service, support and leadership during her tenure on our school board,” said Superintendent Rebecca Miner. 

“She has been a passionate advocate for our community’s children and I am grateful for her incredible commitment and service to our students, staff and families. We are a better organization because of her efforts.”

Shoreline Public Schools will begin to look for a replacement for Director Fralick, as well as Director David Wilson who previously announced his resignation, in the near future. Information about that process will be shared on the District’s website and through Shoreline Area News.

Text of Director Fralick’s Statement

I ran for office to make sure that the Shoreline School District remained one of the best districts in Washington State. We have an incredible and energetic Superintendent, a dedicated administrative team, and some of the best teachers and classified staff in the area. We also are very lucky to have a community that cares deeply about public education and tax ourselves to fund our schools.

It is an honor to serve our community as your Director and I appreciate the confidence my colleagues on the Board placed in me when they selected me as President.

Because of unanticipated circumstances, I must focus on taking care of my family. No one can take my place in my family, but there are many community members who are committed to public education and the best outcomes for our kids. After a lot of thought and consideration, I am resigning my position as President of the Board and Director Position 2, effective on September 12, 2020.

We have an amazing group of employees working in our district in a number of visible and unseen positions. Our certificated staff and teachers, our incredible administrators, our classified staff, including para-educators and office staff, maintenance and custodial staff, kitchen workers, bus drivers, and before- and after- care providers all contribute to the continued success of our district.

I do want to especially thank the two individuals with whom I have worked most closely with as a board member - Kathie Schindler for her incredibly instrumental work supporting the Board. I also have deep respect for the unwavering leadership, dedication, and experience of our Superintendent. I know that Dr. Miner has had many sleepless nights to make sure that our children are safe and receive the best education possible. She, along with her administrative team, have bent over backwards to help me and the Board understand how the district works and are spending long hours responding to the challenges of providing education in the middle of a pandemic.

I am reminded, time and again, how important it is to believe the best in people and that our district is continually working to create better learning opportunities for each student. It is a reality that public education in our State, and our country, remains underfunded. I will continue to advocate for the full funding of public education, especially funding for special education.

I know our district has made progress over the past few years. We’ve made equity a goal and there is ongoing work to create an ethnic studies curriculum. One of my proudest moments was voting to name the Early Learning Center after Shoreline resident and Seattle NAACP President Edwin Pratt. We’ve also seen the emergence of some tremendous student leaders who are challenging our community to address the concerns of Shoreline youth.

Our Board and our district succeeds with the support and input of the community. I benefitted from the comments from the community, and I am confident that our community will continue to participate and engage with the Board.

Thank you to my colleagues on the Board for their time, patience, guidance and collegiality: Mike Jacobs, Dick Nicholson, Dick Potter, Sara Betnel, Meghan Jernigan, Rebeca Rivera, and David Wilson.