School Board Recognizes Outgoing Trustees

Before swearing in , the took some time to recognize outgoing trustees Sharon Sagar and Conn Hickey for their years of work.

Both were presented with resolutions from the school district and from San Anselmo and Fairfax. Students from the MAP program at , which both Hickey and Sagar were very involved with, also sang a song and presented the outgoing trustees with crowns and the new trustees with magic wands.

Hickey, who was stepping down after six years on the board and more involved as a MAP parent, reminded the new trustees of the difficult decisions they still have ahead of them. "We're rebuilding an airplane while it's flying," he said.

He also said he would continue to be involved with the schools.

"This is not a farewell speech," said Hickey.

Sagar thanks everyone she has worked with since dropping her daughter off at Kindergarten at Manor in 1991. Since then, she served on the PTA, worked to get the MAP program launched, and was a trustee for 14 years.

In heartfelt speeches, parents thanked Sagar for her work and said they could not remember a time when she hadn't been on the board.

"It's hard to say goodbye," said Sagar, who called one particular decision by the district recently a "deal-breaker." Sagar was an advocate of a , instead of adding additional classrooms to the existing campuses.

She also urged the incoming trustees to consider all the information, not just that from their school, and focus on the priorites they set as a district. The district has a number of issues it will have to resolve in the coming years, including the , increased enrollment, and budget cuts.

Marin County Superintendent of Schools Mary Jane Burke also thanked Hickey and Sagar for their work and for stepping up into the demanding role of being a trustee, before going on to urge the new trustees to do what they were elected to do and to work together.

"Want for all kids what we want for our own," she said.