As filing week gets underway next week, one name will be noticably absent from the list of those who have filed. After 34 years on the board of the Aberdeen School District, Sandra Bielski has announced that she does not plan to run for re-election.

Bielksi tells The Daily World that she’s been blessed with great mentors and staff along the way, specifically Jane Goldberg, “She taught me a lot.” Goldberg was a long-running board member and community activist who passed away in 2020. Bielski adds, “I’ve learned from every board member, and I am positive that the school district’s going to be in a good place with the board now. They are just some phenomenal people.”

Bielski was employed by the district for five years, she retired in 1982 and was elected to the board in 1987. “There were a couple of the times that I had some fantastic challengers.” She said it wasn’t always easy to stay on the board, “I believe in the right time and the right place. And I think that’s why I was able to be re elected.”

She adds that she would not have been as successful at the district without the help of Executive Assistant, and Communications Manager, Dee Anne Shaw. “She’s been there almost as long as I have and she is a wealth of information,” said Bielski. “She can tell you rules and regulations, and she’s very patient and calm. She’s just a treasure in the district.”

In her 34 years on the board, Bielski has seen the state’s first teacher strike, the burning and demolition of the high school’s historic buildings, and has helped to guide the district through many rebuilds, and rennovations. “I think this time is probably the most challenging because of the pandemic, because you have to be able to move at the drop of a hat,” says Bielski. “The other times like the school burning down, or needing to remodel, you can plan for that and mostly be able to rely on those plans.”

She was saddened by the destruction of the Weatherwax building in 2002, but she said it was also a great opportunity. The high school, which at the time was held in multiple buildings across three city blocks, is now consolidated to a single, new, building on a closed campus.

Bielski and her husband, David, own Fern Hill Cemetery, Grays Harbor Monument, and Petland Cemetery in Aberdeen where she says she plans to spend more of her time. She says, “I will have a little bit more free time, I’m still planning on keeping busy.”