Passionate. Caring. A real advocate for kids.

That’s how school officials, family and elected officials described Issaquah School Board member Connie Fletcher at an Oct. 19 farewell party after wrapping up 16 years of service.

Fletcher was selected to serve on the Washington State Board of Education on Aug. 31. She officially stepped down Sept. 9 and will be replaced by the Nov. 3 winner of the School District Pos. 2 race between Wright Noel and Marnie Maraldo.

Surrounded by several generations of family members, Fletcher was greeted by a large gathering at the School District’s administration building as colleagues and friends recounted their favorite story and the highs and lows of the school board.

“I’m very conscious School Board members don’t teach kids,” she said. “I want to recognize our teachers … and I’m grateful to the community and our voters who have always supported us.”

Fletcher said she first thought about joining the State Board in 2002 after Issaquah School District schools were shuttered for three weeks during a teachers strike.

“We need to pay more attention to Olympia,” she said.

Her most important goal for the State Board was to establish “equality for all kids,” regardless of family income or race.

“We have an achievement gap, just like every other educational system,” she said.

“Our problem is largely an economic one. People don’t think of Issaquah having many poor residents, but we do.”

Originally from Richland, Minnesota, she moved to Issaquah in 1978 with her husband, Jim. She’d been active in the PTSA and helped serve on bond and levy committees for funding schools when she was approached by the district superintendent to run for the board in 1992.

School board members Chad Magendanz, Suzanne Weaver,

Jan Woldseth each took turns praising and “roasting” their former colleage, including a “very special” resolution, old photos and an old Issaquah Press headline that directly quoted Fletcher’s unhappiness with a 2 a.m. resolution.

Current Issaquah Superintendent Steve Rasmussen said the move would add an important local voice to the State Board, which sets funding priorities, graduation requirements and curriculum.

“She has a wealth of knowledge and involvement,” he said. “Who better to be in Olympia for us looking after School Board issues?”

Two local State Senators also stopped by to give their best wishes. Sens. Rodney Tom and Fred Jarrett, both members of the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee, chatted with Fletcher about her new role.

“She’s been involved in our legislative sessions, advocating for Issaquah and kids around the state,” he said. “I’m thrilled she’s on the State Board.”

Jarrett said he looks forward to Fletcher’s work on the State Board developing accountability measures and establishing a badly-needed math curriculum. He said the state currently ranks in the bottom third of the U.S. based on performance measures and the U.S. is in the bottom third of the industrialized world.

“We’ve got to be raising the bar to be at standards comparable with the rest of the world,” he said.

Jarrett is also Vice-Chair of the Senate Higher Education & Wor

Over the past 16 years, Fletcher has had time to reflect on what the Issaquah School District has achieved. The district has long reviewed testing results and data based factors such as race and family income, something that was later required in light of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Under her tenure as a boardmember, Fletcher witnessed a dramatic increase in ISD school enrollment — from 9,773 students in 1993 to 16,012 in 2009 — and the construction of nine new schools to accommodate the growth.

She cited Special Education as an area of genuine improvement for the district.