After four years on the Manhattan-Ogden School Board, Brandy Santos sees her term expire this month.
Santos, who became a member of the school board right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, attended her final board meeting Wednesday and took time on KMAN’s In Focus to reflect on her time serving the community during a public health crisis.
“It was tough, but I really think we came out better for it,” she said. “That’s hard because I know some people don’t think that but I think we learned a lot of lessons and isn’t that what we’re supposed to be doing, moving forward?”
Santos was a vocal opponent of the mask mandates, which continued well into the following school year and closed out her tenure this week seeing the final masking protocols of the district’s pandemic response plan removed in a unanimous vote.
Superintendent Eric Reid publicly thanked Santos Wednesday for never being afraid to ask questions when she didn’t understand something.
“What I’ve always appreciated about Brandy is her vote at this table means something to her and she wants to understand what that yes or no means. Your questions always made me better, as a communicator and administrator,” Reid said.
Santos and fellow board member Darell Edie are being succeeded by new USD 383 school board members Katie Allen and Greg Hoyt.
