Just shy of completing the third year of her first term, Carson City School Board President Barbara Howe tearfully announced Tuesday that the next board meeting would be her last.
"It's hard for me to give up the power to influence things in the way you want them to be," she said after the meeting. "This is such an amazing experience, and I have to give it up. That's the part that doesn't sit so well with me."
Howe, who works in the wellness division of Nevada Health and Human Services, was offered the job of deputy director for the Humboldt County Health Department in Eureka, Calif.
At a 30 percent salary increase, she said it was too good to give up. She will take over the position on Nov. 9.
"It's a huge promotion for me,"
she said.
Howe, 46, was elected in 2006 on the slogan, "for the health of it."
She said she was just on the cusp of realizing some of her major goals on the school board.
Howe encourages district officials to move forward with the suggestion of privatizing nutrition services.
By doing so, she said, the district would contract with a global food service that would have a better purchasing power to lower costs. The bonus would be that the staff would not have to change.
"I'm going to be pushing for that as hard as I can before I leave," Howe said.
The other project she hopes to see come to fruition is school-based health centers where at-risk students are given access to primary care. That project has not yet been presented to board members, but is expected to be on the Nov. 10 budget.
"That will be huge," she said.
During this year serving as president, Howe has presided over some of the most volatile meetings in recent history.
She said her goal was to role model civility in emotionally charged situations for the students of the district.
"It's been an amazing year to be president because of the budget cuts," she said. "The community was really involved, and that was exciting. It was also difficult to manage people's emotions and make sure they were civil. I think we did well."
The school district will be accepting applications for the District 6 seat, encompassing the southwest area of Carson City. Call 283-2100 for more information.