Editorial: Garrard best for Edmonds School Board post

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, September 16, 2025

By The Herald Editorial Board

The kids are back in school, temperatures are cooling and campaign signs are decorating yards and roadsides, heralding several local elections in communities in just a matter of weeks.

Which means voters will need to begin considering who they’ll support in a number of races for mayor, city council, school board and other posts and issues.

To assist in that effort, The Herald Editorial Board offers its thoughts regarding candidates for select races in the county as part of a voter’s diet of sources, among them: The Herald’s news coverage; the voters’ pamphlet, which will be mailed next month by the Snohomish County Elections Office and will also soon be available on its website at tinyurl.com/SnoCoElex; the state’s online voters guide at www.vote.wa.gov; and a series of recorded candidate forums available at the website of the Snohomish County League of Women Voters at lwvsnoho.org/candidate_forums.

Ballots for the Nov. 4 election and the voters’ pamphlets are scheduled to be mailed on Oct. 16. Ballots must be returned to drop boxes or be postmarked by Nov. 4. (Note: Ballots delivered to the post office on Nov. 4 may not necessarily be postmarked for that date and should be taken to the counter for hand-canceling.)

Edmonds School District

The Edmonds School District serves more than 20,000 students in 35 schools in communities including Edmonds, Brier, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Woodway and unincorporated Snohomish County. Two of its five school board director seats are up for election this year.

Edmonds School Director, District 2: Incumbent director Keith Smith is running unopposed. A 2004 graduate of Mountlake Terrace High School, he was elected to the board in 2021.

Edmonds School Director, District 4: Incumbent director Thom Garrard was appointed to the board in August 2024 to fill a vacancy and complete the current term. He is challenged by Jason Moore, a U.S. Navy veteran and small business owner who has lived with his family in Lynnwood for 10 years.

Moore initially agreed to an interview but did not respond for a request to schedule an interview.

Garrard, who has a master’s in education, is a retired elementary teacher and school librarian with more than 40 years of experience in school districts in Mukilteo, Central Kitsap, Bremerton and his last eight in Edmonds. Currently he serves as treasurer for the Friends of the Edmonds Library and was a member of the task force that established the Lynnwood Youth Council. He serves as secretary for the state retired teachers union. He also officiates school and youth soccer.

Garrard said he has deep concerns for public education, particularly for its state and federal funding.

“I understand the state has budget issues, but (education) is the paramount duty, and it seems like we’re not fulfilling it,” he said.

While there was some improvement by the Legislature on more fully funding special education, work remains, he said, a point he reminds lawmakers of when he talks with them.

Garrard said he supported the efforts by the state and by state schools Superintendent Chris Reykdal to seek release of federal funding initially held up by the Trump administration over questions of diversity and inclusion. Noting the range of languages spoken in the district — more than 130 — the district must remain inclusive, he said, and needs to fight for promised federal funding.

When the district faced a budget shortfall this year it seemed to face a choice between funding middle school sports and the sixth-grade band and orchestra program, both important programs to many. By working with the teachers union this summer, he said, the district was able to keep the sixth-grade music program by making it mandatory rather than an elective, while avoiding deep staff cuts. An early estimate of 12 FTE positions set to be eliminated was limited to a little less than one, he said.

Regarding the recent release of student assessments by the state, Garrard said the district is not statistically different than the state average, although it will keep working to see those results improve. One method, he said, are improvement plans for each school that are emphasizing attendance, school belonging and students’ investment in their studies and tracking each student’s progress toward graduation.

Garrard said the district also continues to work to assure student safety. While school resource officers were removed in 2020, schools have maintained relationships with local police departments and the schools have adopted safety plans. As well, the district has invested in more counselors and offers online counseling, a tip line and a threat assessment protocol.

Garrard’s career as an educator, particularly with the Edmonds district, helped make him effective as a board member from the start. In the past year, he has built on that experience with an investment in time and enthusiasm for the district’s work, earning the support of the other board members and district officials.

Garrard should be elected to a full term on the Edmonds school board.