Reflects on 8 years of service

QUINCY — Rep. Alex Ybarra, R-Quincy, went to his last meeting as a member of the Quincy School Board last Thursday, resigning from the position in order to focus on his legislative duties.

“I had a great time, I learned tons, and I’m very grateful for all the school board members,” Ybarra said in an interview. “I am sad to be leaving now, and I’m going to miss all the folks I got to work with.”

Though he expects to still meet with the school board in his other capacities, the second-year lawmaker said that he needed to focus his time on the legislature and didn’t think he could properly serve the school district with his attention divided. He had maintained both positions during his first year in Olympia.

“When I got appointed as a legislator, I didn’t know how much time it was going to take, so I figured I should go to the legislature and see if I have enough time to get to everything on my plate,” Ybarra said.

“Within months, it became clear I didn’t,” he added. “Something had to go, and I thought it was time to leave.”

It’s the end of an eight-year era. Ybarra was first elected to the school board in 2011, and during that time also served on the Washington State School Directors Association. Since becoming a state lawmaker, Ybarra has been appointed to the Education Committee, among others, a role in which he expects to still be in contact with the Quincy School District.

Though he said he will miss his colleagues and the students he worked with for nearly a decade, Ybarra said he was proud about the changes made during his tenure and confident in the team he was leaving behind.

Ybarra pointed to the hiring of Superintendent John Boyd and Nik Bergman, the construction of a new high school and the district’s highly capable program, which Ybarra said has been taking off in recent years under the direction of Quincy’s Camilla Jones, who was named Washington State Teacher of the Year in 2017.

Ybarra was also proud of the district’s improving test scores, a particularly bright sign in a district that has long struggled with lower than average scores, high poverty and a high rate of students who speak English as a second language.

“There’s a lot of work to be done, but we’re going in the right direction,” Ybarra said.

Emry Dinman can be reached via email at edinman@columbiabasinherald.com.