Sherry Phay
It takes a special kind of person to be a school board director.
Merely making a commitment to run for the position, then endure the sheer tsunami of information dumped on your head once elected, requires a certain amount of steel in the spine.
Having sat through too many board meetings, whether watching them in-person or streaming on the computer, I can state with utter conviction — it’s a post I would be horrible at.
So, I already have a great deal of respect for those men and women who choose to put themselves on the line.
If they didn’t believe in what they were doing, they wouldn’t be there in the first place.
But, as board members come and go over the years, nationally or locally, a few invariably stand out.
Some for what they accomplish. Others for what they don’t.
Here in Coupeville, we have been blessed to have pretty rock-solid board members, at least in the years in which I’ve been paying attention.
Today though, as she prepares for her next-to-last monthly meeting, I’d like to single out one director.
Sherry Phay, who is resigning effective the end of July, has accomplished something remarkable in her two terms on the board.
There is no question she is outspoken, resolute in her beliefs, and unwilling to go along just to get along, but she also has remained relevant, passionate, and a check on power.
Phay has been on the losing end of votes many times, been willing to endure personal attacks, because at the end of the day, when she looks out across the Kathleen Anderson Boardroom at those in the audience, she can look us in the eye.
She fights, every meeting and every moment, to remind us that when finances aren’t right and budget cuts have to be made, those are real humans who are losing their jobs, and not just numbers on a spread sheet.
Her support for paraeducators, for teachers, for support staff, for the people on the ground who make this school system work, has never wavered.
Phay is as committed as any board member I have witnessed in action, and she has stood resolute even when it may have been personally painful.
Some have tried to dismiss her impact, to say “Well, she’s losing 4-1, she’s not accomplishing anything.”
Bullshit.
Phay is not a crank, like some candidates have been, someone seeking to nab a board slot just so they can spend their time disrupting things.
In her work on the board, and as its legislative representative, she has championed good causes, helping Coupeville’s schools shape a positive road forward — especially in the rebuilding time after the pandemic.
But she’s also not someone who seems fond of being mansplained to, of being dismissed, of being talked over.
Like all leaders should, Phay chooses her words carefully when she speaks at public meetings and realizes the power of those words to shape things.
But she ain’t here for your fake promises and platitudes, either.
I don’t really know Phay on a personal basis. We’ve exchanged a few words at most.
What I see, what I know, is what I have witnessed, and that is she is a woman of rare conviction.
The board has been better for her presence, the school district and town as well.
I hope that whoever inherits her position on the panel, whatever their opinions or personal causes may be, upholds Phay’s willingness to engage, to challenge, to stand tall and say “People matter. Don’t forget that.”
As she departs, the board will have to make tough choices when it comes to producing a balanced budget.
People will be cut. That’s a painful reality.
But they are not mere numbers on a spread sheet.
Phay has never forgotten that, to her immense credit.
I am sure that come July, she will be acknowledged by her fellow board members for her contributions. That’s their thing.
For what it’s worth, today I am inducting Sherry Phay into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame for her work on the board. She’ll be included under the Contributor category.
After this, you’ll find her up at the top of the blog, under the Legends tab.
I’ve never put someone into the Hall strictly for school board work before, despite the fact there’s been numerous standouts, from Don Sherman to Karen Bishop and beyond.
I know, it’s a sports blog, and there are some who have wished I would “stay in my lane.”
To which I say, my lane is whatever I say it is.
And my lane today is to honor Sherry Phay, for refusing to sit down and shut up, for always speaking from her heart, for fighting for what is right, every day.
We saw you. We see you. We appreciate you.
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