Frank Bricker

Candidate for School Board Zone 1, Greater Albany Public Schools

Occupation: Grass-seed farmer.
Experience: Served 25 years on Albany School board; current member of the Linn-Benton-Lincoln Education Service District Board; serves on GAPS Superintendent's Strategy Planning Committee and GAPS committee reviewing of board policies and administrative rules.
Education: diploma, Burbank (Calif) High School; bachelor's degree in anthropology and sociology, Eastern Oregon College in La Grande.
Hobbies/Interests: Reading.
Family: Three grown children, all of whom attended Albany schools, and two grandchildren. His wife of 51 years, Linda, who also went through Albany schools, died Dec. 31, 2020.
Why I'm running: Serving on the school board is an opportunity to make a difference in the education of our students, who are the future of our community. At this election, the board faces the largest turnover of board members in over 30 years, with only two current board members remaining on the board, both having served only two years on the board. I can bring over 25 years of board policy and bargaining experience back to the board.  
For 23 of my 25 years on the GAPS board, I have been on the district bargaining team. I strongly support the collective bargaining process, especially in the GAPS district. Through our interest-based bargaining we have developed a strong relationship that extends past the bargaining table into the everyday education of our students. 
Students must be the focus of bargaining because almost everything we bargain affects the education of our students. As we move forward, we need to look at the needs of all students regardless of where they come from or where they are and try to meet their needs. Although I have been off the board for the last two years, taking care of my wife of over 51 years, I have remained active in the district on the strategic planning team and the committee reviewing and updating all of the board policies and administrative rules of the district. The school board is a job I am both qualified for and enjoy doing.