State School Board member Linda Hansen steps down

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SALT LAKE CITY — Linda Hansen, who has represented District 3 on the Utah State Board of Education since 2014, has stepped down because she is moving outside her precinct boundaries.

Hansen said she and her husband have purchased a new home and acreage in Pleasant View, Weber County.

The Hansens are the parents of six children. Their youngest sons have autism, which spurred Hansen to advocate for students with disabilities in various ways.

Hansen has served on the Utah Developmental Disabilities Council, the Instructional Materials Commission and Community Education Partnership of West Valley City. She has also has offered extensive service to Utah PTA, serving on its board of directors and four years as a PTA region director overseeing 90 PTAs in Granite School District.

Hansen earned a bachelor’s degree in family life studies from Utah State University.

She is the fourth member of the Utah State Board of Education to step down in the past year.

District 11 representative Lisa Cummins and District 12’s Alisa Ellis resigned because they moved out of state.

The fourth board member, Kathleen Riebe, stepped down after she was elected to the Utah Senate in 2018. Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, represented District 10.

Gov. Gary Herbert will select a replacement to serve the remainder of Hansen’s unexpired term, pending ratification by the Utah Senate.

Hansen, in addressing State School Board members during her final meeting, urged them to continue to advocate for children with disabilities.

“The past five years I’ve tried to speak up for them. I’ve begged and I pleaded and I’ve shed a lot of tears here at the table. This week, parents are calling me and they’re shedding tears because they’re afraid no one is going to speak up for their kids. Please don’t forget that,” she said.

Hansen was instrumental in developing the board’s inaugural Student Advisory Council, which was proposed to her by then-Skyline High School senior Kate De Groote.

The council’s recommendations were delivered during Hansen’s final board meeting.

from Deseret News https://ift.tt/2PbEUiQ