Voters face a tough choice for Tacoma School Board Pos. 5. So did the TNT editorial board

Experience versus new voices and new leaders. As an editorial board, it’s a dilemma we often face during endorsement season.

The race for Tacoma Public Schools Board of Directors Position 5 is no exception. Elizabeth Bonbright is an appointed incumbent who brings decades of early childhood education policy work to the table. As executive director of Peace Community Center, Bill Hanawalt spent years leading grassroots outreach and educational intervention on the ground, specifically focused on kids from Hilltop, where he resides.

The difficult truth is that both candidates are deserving of your vote this November. Either one would be an excellent choice, but only one can be elected.

While The News Tribune Editorial Board was divided, after a lengthy debate we ultimately decided to endorse Bonbright. The two years she’s already spent on the board have shown promise and earned her widespread support among her peers and colleagues. We believe the continuity Bonbright would help to provide on a school board that is already full of new faces — and preparing to lose current president Andrea Cobb — simply cannot be discounted.

However, we offer our endorsement of Bonbright, 64, with no disrespect to Hanawalt — only admiration and the sincere hope that this won’t be his last run for office. Hanawalt, 42, is a University of Puget Sound grad and political outsider whose focus on results helped create Peace Community Center and earned him recognition as a White House Champion of Change. Local government is better when difference makers like him are put into positions of leadership, and there’s little question he has much to offer.

Appointed to the Tacoma School Board in November 2019, Bonbright’s strengths draw on her career in early childhood education, which is an area of expertise that serves the school district well. She spent 22 years as executive director of the nonprofit Childcare Aware Washington, a statewide child care referral program. In more recent years, she’s worked as an early childhood policy consultant, helping to craft blueprints for success in Washington and across the nation. Currently, in addition to serving on the school board Bonbright is chair of the Joint Municipal Action Committee, proving that — among a collection of local leaders from across the city and county — she’s well-respected and more than capable of holding her own.

“Professionally, I’ve dedicated the majority of my career to building an affordable, accessible, high-quality childcare and early-learning, after-school care system,” Bonbright told The News Tribune Editorial Board last month.

“One thing I’ve learned is that (serving on the school board) is demanding, and it takes time to learn the role,” the mother of two adult daughters who both attended and graduated from Tacoma Public Schools continued. “After two years — which have included the COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest — I feel my understanding of and commitment to this has really broadened, deepened and strengthened. I think I bring a unique set of skills to the job.”

As an editorial board, we agree, and it’s why we’re giving Bonbright the edge.

While voters can’t go wrong when casting a ballot for Tacoma School Board of Directors Position 5, in our view Bonbright has earned the right to retain her seat.

Previously, The News Tribune editorial board endorsed Enrique Leon for Tacoma School Board of Directors Position 2. Korey Strozier is unopposed in his campaign to retain school board Position 3; Chelsea McElroy is running unopposed for Position 4.

News Tribune election endorsements reflect the views of our Editorial Board and are written by interim opinion editor Matt Driscoll. Other board members are: Stephanie Pedersen, News Tribune president and editor; Jim Walton, community representative; and Pamela Transue, a community representative who serves during election season. The Editorial Board operates independently from the newsroom and does not influence the work of news reporting and editing staff. Endorsements are merely recommendations based on candidate interviews, research and discussions among the board. We do not endorse any candidates who do not interview with us. For questions, email matt.driscoll@thenewstribune.com

This story was originally published October 7, 2021 at 5:00 AM.