Beard elected as president of the Tumwater School District Board of Directors

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The Tumwater School District (TSD) Board of Directors elected Melissa Beard, District 4 Director and former vice president, as its new president on Dec. 12.

Beard will also serve on the Washington State School Directors Association (WSSDA) Executive Board as president-elect, and on the Together! Board of Directors, wrote Executive Assistant to the Superintendent Becky Parsons in an email to The JOLT. 

Beard has been in the district since 2016 and will serve as president for one year from January through December 2025.  

The directors annually elect individuals as board president, board vice president and as the WSSDA legislative representative.  

District 2 Director Casey Taylor was elected Vice President for a one-year term.
District 2 Director Casey Taylor was elected Vice President for a one-year term.

District 2 Director Casey Taylor was elected vice president for one year from January through December 2025.

District 1 Director Jill Adams was elected as the board’s WSSDA legislative representative for two years starting from July 2025.
District 1 Director Jill Adams was elected as the board’s WSSDA legislative representative for two years starting from July 2025.

The directors also unanimously elected District 1 Director Jill Adams as the school board’s WSSDA legislative representative for two years starting in July 2025. 

Responsibilities 

The school board consists of five board members, each elected to serve four-year terms. Each director lives in and represents one of five districts.  

“Operating within the legal parameters of the state and federal constitutions, statutes, courts, and administrative agencies, the Board is charged with the responsibility of providing the finest educational program possible for the students in the district,” stated the district’s site 

Part of what the directors do is make all final decisions on school district priorities, policies, personnel, textbooks, expenditures and growth management.  

To maintain and operate the schools, directors also adopt a budget, levy taxes to help support the budget, and submit bond issues to finance construction projects to the residents of the district. 

The board also has three nonvoting student advisors selected by the high schools to attend school board meetings and participate in discussions. 

Each school also has three back-up representatives to allow students to be able to participate in all of their activities, while ensuring the board can hear student voices at all meetings, wrote Parsons in an email to The JOLT. 

The student representatives are Dhruvil Patel and Emma Arko from Black Hills High School, Cody Coleman and Natalie Jennings from Cascadia High School, and Sydney Sumrok and Joshua Morgan from Tumwater High School. 

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