The Tacoma school board picked a new member. Here’s what we know about her
The Tacoma Public Schools board selected an administrator at Pierce College to serve as its fifth board member at its March 12 meeting.
Shawna Freeman Lane is the vice president of equity, engagement and belonging at Pierce College and a part-time business lecturer at the University of Washington Tacoma, according to her application. The board selected Freeman Lane after an interview process that began after longtime board member Enrique Leon stepped down at the end of December to give more attention to his “family and professional obligations.” Leon was in the midst of a six-year term when he stepped down.
The board voted 4-0 to extend an offer to Freeman Lane. Once she accepts it, she will serve in the position after participating in a swearing-in ceremony March 26. Freeman Lane will remain in the position until November 2027 when she could choose to run for the full term, district general counsel Malik Gbenro said at the meeting.
Board members can earn up to $4,800 a year. In recent months the board has been the target of criticism over a series of spending cuts district leaders made to mitigate a multimillion dollar budget deficit.
“I am committed to serving the board of directors with integrity, collaboration, transparency, and a deep commitment to student success,” Freeman Lane wrote in her application. “I am also committed to joyfully showing up, which will be demonstrated through my investment of time and energy, and to being a strong advocate to ensure that our students, families, and communities remain at the center of the work.”
Freeman Lane has a bachelor of arts in communications and journalism, a master of business administration and a doctorate degree in education, her application states.
Freeman Lane’s selection comes after 25 people submitted applications for the role, and the board selected three of the 25 to participate in interviews. Two of those people declined to participate in interviews, so the board selected three additional candidates to interview at a meeting on March 9, according to the district’s website.
Freeman Lane was part of the second set of candidates that the board interviewed.
Board president Korey Strozier acknowledged the change in candidates in his comments after the vote.
“It took a lot of time, effort and energy, a lot of reviewing materials, a lot of getting to know people, a lot of interviewing, a lot of thinking that we’re going to interview and having to pivot – which seems to be a theme for us as a school board, pivoting,” he said.
