THE DALLES — The North Wasco County District 21 school board announced the resignation of board director Rebecca Thistlethwaite and declared North Wasco County school district zone 1, for which Thistlethwaite had served, as vacant during the Jan 20 meeting of the board, which was held virtually.
Rebecca Thistlethwaite
“Last week I did receive a phone call from Director Thistlethwaite and she did verbally give me her resignation,” said Board Chair Jose Aparicio. According to School Board policy BBC, “board member resignation,” verbal resignations to the board chair are accepted as official unless a “written statement to the contrary is submitted within three business days.” In the meeting, Aparicio said he had not received such a statement from Thistlethwaite.
“The verbal (resignation) that she gave me is her desire at this point,” said Aparicio.
Columbia Gorge News reached out to Thistlethwaite for comment on her decision to resign from the board. She said she is no longer living in zone 1. “I moved after I was elected to The Dalles, so I would like someone from zone 1 to actually fill the spot.”
She stated that a second reason behind her decision to resign was an increasing workload. Thistlethwaite, who works for Oregon State University (OSU) Extension Service as an extension outreach specialist and director of the Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network (NMPAN), said she recently secured more than $1million in grants from the USDA towards her work, which will “provide more education and technical assistance to small scale meat processors all around the country.
“My workload is going to pick up tremendously this year … I’m going to be bringing on more staff, and I’m just going to be busier than ever,” said Thistlethwaite.
Thistlethwaite said that she also wanted the opportunity to get involved more with her children’s extracurricular activities. “I want to devote my volunteer time to helping out with a couple of the sports that my kids are involved in,” she said.
Thistlethwaite, who served on the board of the North Wasco County Education Foundation as school board representative, will no longer be a board member due to her resignation from the school board, but will continue to act as administrative director. According to Thistlethwaite, in her time working with them, the foundation has managed to raise more than $250,000 in both grants and donations.
“That’s something I’m going to keep doing, I love raising money for schools,” she said.
“It’s been a lot of heavy lifting the last couple of years,” said Thistlethwaite when asked about her time on the school board, referring to major processes such as when the district sought a new superintendent, developing school reentry plans and navigating COVID-19 protocols. “I’ve learned a ton. I think I’ve participated to the best of my abilities, worked well with my colleagues … even if we disagreed on things, we still were cordial and respected each other’s opinions.
“The district’s under a lot of pressure and have a considerable amount of policies and regulations that they’re required to follow to ensure the health of their staff and the kiddos,” said Thistethwaite. “But that the North Star for all their decision making is always the wellbeing and education of our kids … be patient with them and offer them grace.”
“While I hate to see her go, it just sounds like an awesome professional opportunity for her,” said Aparicio in the Jan. 20 meeting. “I’m super appreciative of her service on the board … I wish her the best in both her professional life and as she continues to work on the Ed Foundation for the district.”
“I loved being on the school board. I love and have so much respect for my fellow school board members. I think they’re wonderful humans. They’re doing a great job. Our superintendents fantastic. They should be supported. They’re doing great stuff for our kids,” said Thistlethwaite. “I will miss working with them.”
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