Washougal School Board appoints Hancock replacement

The Washougal School Board has appointed Jane Long, a human resources and business operations professional and mother of two Washougal elementary school students, to fill the Board seat vacated by Angela Hancock in June.

The Board convened a special meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 3, to interview Long, the lone applicant for the vacant District 2 seat.

Board members quizzed Long on her experience, her views of what attributes are essential for a school board member and how she might react to diverse views within the community.

As the head of people and operations for a sustainability consulting firm in Portland for the past two decades, Long said she believed her experience working with people and balancing budgets would help her if appointed to the school board — especially when it comes to working with people who held opposing viewpoints.

“I focus on not taking it personally and try to diffuse with facts,” Long said when the Board asked how she might deal with divided interests on the board or in the community. “A lot of times, when people react strongly, it’s not that they’re a bad person or they’re attacking personally, (it’s) because there’s fear or concern about a decision that was made. So, I really think it’s just trying to continue the dialogue in as positive a manner as you can, and also recognizing that you may need to stop … take a little break and come back to the table later.”

Long said she also believed listening to others, especially those who are experts in their field, would be “key” to becoming an effective school board member.

“I’m not an expert on teaching or running a school, and being able to listen to those folks, as well as parents and their concerns is really important,” Long said.

She added that another important attribute for a school board member, in her opinion, is the ability to gather information and be willing to reconsider her opinions in light of new information.

“In (human resources), I listen to employees and that has resulted in me changing my opinion on things because other people are smarter than I am in certain areas,” Long said.

Asked how she might help the Board develop its strategic plan, Long said she would begin by looking at the school district’s successes and how the district is measuring success, adding that she also would like to learn more about the district’s declining student enrollment “and what that does to the overall strategic plan.”

Long told the Board she is the mother of two Washougal School District students — a second-grader and a third-grader; a volunteer youth softball coach; and that she enjoys her job, which allows her to work remotely with biotech and clean-energy firms located mostly on the East Coast and in the San Francisco Bay area.

In her application for the Board position, Long said she volunteers in her children’s classrooms and on school field trips, helps with Booster Club activities and is a mentor for READ Northwest, a Southwest Washington nonprofit that focuses on early childhood literacy.

After a brief executive session, the Washougal School Board voted unanimously on Sept. 3, to appoint Long to the District 2 seat. Long was sworn into her new position during the Board’s regular meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 10.