Kurt Miller steps down after a dozen years on Tacoma School Board

Kurt Miller was feted with cake, speeches and song Monday night as he ended more than 12 years on the Tacoma School Board.

“If you had told me 15 years ago that I’d be standing here after 12 years, I’d have told you you’re crazy,” Miller said.

He and others noted that Miller’s years on the board have been marked by upheaval. He dealt with budget cuts, school closings, the 2011 Tacoma teachers strike and the resignation of then-Superintendent Art Jarvis.

“That was all in one year,” Miller said. “Any one of those could have torn the district and this board apart.”

He was president of the board, and thus its public face, during the turbulence.

Superintendent Carla Santorno said Miller impressed her, shortly after she was named to succeed Jarvis, by telling her to “get out there and love our community.”

Members of the Vibrant Schools Tacoma Coalition, a group that advocates for students of color and low-income kids, invited Miller to join their ranks after he leaves the board. And district security director Miguel Villahermosa serenaded him with lyrics set to the tune of John Lennon’s “Imagine.” The tune praised Miller’s service to the community, but also ribbed him about his fashion sense:

“Imagine no Kurt Miller; it makes me want to cry; nowhere a finer mustache; great sweaters and no tie...”

Miller, who works as a leader of nonprofits serving Tacoma youth, was appointed to the School Board in June 2003 to finish the unexpired term of Kathy Orlando, then won an uncontested race to retain the seat. He ran for another six-year term in 2009.

This year, Miller chose not to run for a third term. Andrea Cobb won election to the seat and will begin her term on the board at its Dec. 10 meeting.

This story was originally published November 24, 2015 at 8:31 AM with the headline "Kurt Miller steps down after a dozen years on Tacoma School Board."