After six years as a member of the Jefferson City Board of Education, Steve Bruce announced Sunday he will not seek a third term in April 2020.
School board members are elected to three-year terms. Elected to the board in 2014, it's time for someone else to "take the baton," Bruce said in a news release he issued.
"When I first ran for the board six years ago, I simply set out to make a positive difference," Bruce said in the news release. "No agenda, axes to grind, or expectations about the journey ahead except that I knew there was a lot of work to do."
Accepting the position while the district had a number of projects to work on, he said he was not prepared for the connection he would feel for students, faculty and staff.
"The only way to serve is to be all in," Bruce said. "You have the weight of 9,000 kids' education on your shoulders every day. If you don't feel that way, then you're doing it wrong."
During his time on the board, he served as treasurer in 2015, vice president and policy committee chair in 2016, and president from 2017-19.
Bruce said he is proud of where the district is now. The board has become more accessible for the public and has taken action to improve the district and its performance in recent years, he said.
The next board member should focus on continuing to bridge the gap between the school and the public and improving academics and mental health/disruptive behaviors, he said, also mentioning the overcrowding issues in the middle school buildings.
"If we don't improve in those areas, then it's going to create more problems down the line that are going to be that much more difficult to solve," Bruce said. "In my mind, it's really paramount that those two areas need a lot of focus."
Superintendent Larry Linthacum has previously said the district is considering addressing space needs by adding two buildings for fifth- and sixth-graders.
Three seats on the school board will be available in 2020, according to the district website. Candidate filing opens Dec. 17 and closes Jan. 21.
This story was edited at 7:41 a.m. Oct. 22, 2019, to reflect that Steve Bruce issued the news release announcing his plans not to seek re-election.