MLSD interviews school board candidate

With one opening on the Medical Lake School Board of Directors, the board interviewed a potential candidate right before the last meeting, Tuesday, Aug. 27.

Felicia Jensen answered a series of questions posed by the board, ranging from her previous work experience to what vision she has for the school district. Jensen is a candidate for the position vacated by director Julie Albright, who resigned in June.

Jensen is a former military member, serving 24 years in the armed forces before recently retiring as operations manager at Fairchild Air Force Base, assisting the Wing Commander and Assistant Commander in their daily schedules. She was stationed all across the U.S., and has seen eight different school districts during her various assignments.

“Since I’m retired and staying here now, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do; be involved with the schools,” she said.

Jensen and her family chose to move to Medical Lake for their retirement over surrounding cities, she said, largely due to the community in the city.

The time commitment for a board member, according to board president Rod Von Lehe, ranges from a few nights each month to traveling to Olympia on a rare occasion to represent the board. But Jensen said she was undeterred, and realized the amount of time spent in the position.

“I understand that it takes a lot of time to make this work,” she said.

Jensen said her decisions on the board would take in a number of different opinions and outlooks, keeping the communication process open throughout the district in order to make the most informed decision possible.

“As a board member, the vision would be to provide a lot of input to ensure that everything is well thought out from a lot of different aspects,” she said.

But the bottom line of being a board member, Jensen said, was to have the students’ best interest in mind while making a decision that could affect their learning material down the road.

One question asked by the board involved representing a consensus opinion when discussing action taken by the board, regardless of personal views. Jensen said she worked under the same type of format while in the military, representing the official position on a number of items throughout her time in the service. Later on, she reiterated that her military experience and time spent at Fairchild would provide a different side and viewpoint to the board.

When asked, Jensen said one of the areas that could use improvement was the feeling of disconnect at Michael Anderson Elementary. Since the school is located on Fairchild Air Force Base, communication protocols are slightly different.

James Eik can be reached at james@cheneyfreepress.com.