SEQUIM — The Sequim School Board’s three newest members said their first priority will be to see passage of a $54 million construction bond that will appear on the February ballot.
“The first goal will be to pass the bond,” Robin Henrikson, 37, said Tuesday after she was sworn in Monday along with fellow new members Heather Short, 38, and Jim Stoffer, 55.
Short and Stoffer on Tuesday also said their primary goal is to see a bond approved by voters.
The new board members joined current board members Bev Horan, 66, and Mike Howe, 45.
Another primary goal will be to build “a really solid foundation as a board so we can come together as one group and have our community really realize that we are all in this together,” said Henrikson, an assistant professor of education for the Seattle Pacific University School of Education.
“We work as a board, but we also work as a team with district leadership, with our educators, with our parents, with our community.”
Short, a veterinarian, said being sworn in was “a little bit overwhelming” and “a little emotional.”
“It certainly is taking a big step for me outside of my comfort zone. I see we’ve got support in the community, and I just hope to show the community how great Sequim School District is and how we can make it even better,” she said.
Stoffer, a retired member of the U.S. Coast Guard, said he will concentrate on the “needs of our schools” and students.
It also “is important that the School Board gets out into the community, informs our community and interacts collaboratively with our community on the needs and issues of our schools,” he said.
On Monday, Horan was re-elected president, Henrikson elected as vice president and Stoffer elected as the legislative representative who will attend meetings with state legislators on behalf of the board.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
