Parent Andrew Thomas was appointed to the Ann Arbor Board of Education on May 12 to replace Trustee Randy Friedman, who resigned his board post last month.
Thomas has a child at Tappan Middle School and has served in many volunteer capacities around the district and community including: the Tappan PTSO, Alpha House, Interfaith Hospitality Network, Washtenaw Literacy, the AAPS Educational Foundation and the Executive Board of the PTO Council.
He holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Michigan and is a retired hospital administrator with more than 38 years of experience.
He also established the Karen Thomas Memorial Fund, in honor of his wife who passed away last year. This is an endowed fund through the Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation to encourage reading, especially among economically disadvantaged students.
Thomas will serve through year’s end and, if he so chooses to remain on the board, will have to run for the seat in November. Click here for a PDF of his application to the board.
Five candidates were considered for the latest school board opening . In addition to Thomas, they included: James Corey, Victoria Haviland, Noah Hurwitzand Jack Panitch.
Friedman’s resignation was the third seat to open on the Ann Arbor board in recent months. Trustees Helen Gates-Bryant and Adam Hollier also resigned their seats and were replaced by trustees Simone Lightfoot and Christine Stead, respectively.
Voters will next go to the polls to elect board members in November, when five of the board’s seven seats will be open including that of Thomas as well as trustees Lightfoot, Stead and Susan Baskett and current board President Deb Mexicotte. The deadline for filing to run for one of the seats is Aug. 10, 2010.
The Ann Arbor school board voted last December to move traditional school elections from May to November in a money-saving move. All board terms now run in a January through December calendar year.
