After the Election: The Work Continues

My son, Jack, voting in the mock election in his government class. He is only 17. This was good practice!

Today is Election Day for our local races.

I’ve understood the importance of local elections for a long time, how the people we elect to city councils, borough assemblies, and school boards directly shape the daily lives of our community.

But this year is different.

After two years on the school board, and the last six months as its president during extraordinarily challenging times, I feel the weight of this election in a new way.

This week, our interim superintendent announced her resignation, another major transition in a season already full of them.

It’s not about having favorites or special agendas. It’s about the long-term health of our schools and our community, and the urgency and timeliness of the responsibilities before us.

The responsibilities are both strategic and deeply human, with no easy answers or fix-it-forever solutions. Every decision carries real weight, touching the lives of students, families, staff, and community members who care deeply about the outcome. And often, it all unfolds in full view of our community, some of whom are quick to throw stones at those who step into the arena. I’m used to the arena, but many people aren’t, and this time has been difficult.

I hope the next chapter for our district is guided by trust, stability, and collaboration. And the recognition that trust is a two-way street, earned through alignment and consistency in words and actions, over-communication, and a genuine humanization of one another. After years of funding challenges, budget shortfalls, leadership transitions, and lingering wounds, we are a district in crisis. As a community, we have to do the hard work of repairing what’s broken—systems, processes, and trust itself; ensuring we have enough of the right people in the right places; restoring leadership stability; and rebuilding our relationship with the community.

I wish doing these things were easy. But real progress takes consistency and effort over time, and a team of people who are genuinely committed to the outcomes.

While I genuinely enjoy serving as an elected official, the current state of the district has made me wonder if my skills and experiences might be better utilized in other ways. I’m used to being able to jump in and fix things, to lead, to build, to act. But the line between governance and operations is clear, and despite the need, I’m limited in what I can actually do. That has been a tough reality to sit with.

Being part of a recall petition has been a strange experience, stressful at times, eye-opening at others, and ultimately clarifying about who I am and why I serve. The recall election itself isn’t today; that comes in November. So for now, I get to do what leaders do best: stay the course.

Despite people’s judgments or assumptions about me, I remain committed to the work, to the district, and to showing up even when it is hard.

Apparently, I’m hard to get rid of.

As the votes are counted tonight, I’m less attached to the outcome and more eager for clarity. Knowing who our new board members are will help me begin planning how to proceed for the benefit of many.

Because that’s the real work, not the campaign or the crisis, but what we choose as we move through it together. My hope is that a year from now, we can look back and see a district beginning to heal—where communication is open, leadership is steady, and people feel renewed pride in what we built through resilience and collaboration. I hope we will be a well oiled machine but that might be too much to ask in one year.