‘I’d like to be an advocate’: West Ada school board chooses trustee after chair resigned
The West Ada School District Board of Trustees chose a new member Tuesday to replace the board chair, who resigned earlier this year.
The board chose Lucas Baclayon, a former teacher and education administrator, out of four finalists to serve as the new Zone 2 trustee. They interviewed the finalists at Tuesday’s meeting, asking what each believed a trustee’s role and responsibility to be; how they were prepared to deal with scrutiny from students, teachers and parents; and whether they could support a board decision that they weren’t in favor of.
Candidates said trustees should be representatives for the community and should prioritize students. They talked about the importance of supporting members of the board and the decisions they make as a whole, as well as being transparent to their constituents.
After the interviews, trustee Angie Redford nominated Baclayon for the position because of his variety of experience in education and his diverse background, she said.
Baclayon previously lived in Taiwan, where he worked as a teacher and a dean of academics. He moved to the Treasure Valley about four years ago, and said he decided to apply for the position because he had been wanting to be more involved.
“I decided that I would love the opportunity to give back to the community while being involved in education,” he told the Idaho Statesman.
Baclayon said one of his priorities is to help be a voice for immigrants and students learning English. He said that when he first moved to the U.S., it was a big shift for his children, who were between the ages of 4 and 10.
“It’s a difficult thing, because you have culture and language,” he said. “So I’d like to be an advocate for that.”
His other priorities include understanding challenges facing teachers and students, understanding parent concerns and communicating transparently with the community, he wrote in his application.
Baclayon will be sworn in at the board’s April 11 meeting. The West Ada School District’s board now will be made up of three members who were sworn in this year.
Former trustee called for board to be open to different perspectives
Baclayon will take the position held by Amy Johnson, who served as board chair. She announced her resignation in February.
Last year, a group of parents launched a recall effort against Johnson, alleging that she had a conflict of interest because she worked for Blue Cross, a health insurance company that supported COVID-19 vaccines and masks, while she was involved in making public health decisions for the district during a deadly pandemic.
A formal petition was not submitted in the recall effort.
In her resignation letter, Johnson wrote that she was “exhausted” and wanted to protect her family and employer from “further harassment.”
“While the entire pandemic has been challenging for everyone, the behaviors of a minority of individuals in our West Ada community in the last six months have been shocking and appalling,” she wrote. “These individuals have threatened me personally, made threats against my children, they have made slanderous and false allegations that were baseless and without proof.”
Johnson described the actions of a “small few” as “bullying” that should not be tolerated. She said moving forward, she hoped the board would be open to “different perspectives,” take time to look at facts and data, and hear from experts before making decisions.
She also called for trustees to protect what is supposed to be the nonpartisan nature of the school board.
