Since the late 1960s, Pat Braman has been involved with the Mercer Island School District. She has been a teacher, a union representative, a parent and grandparent of Islander students — and  a member of the MISD Board of Directors.

Now, she is one of two School Board members moving on to the next chapter.

With terms ending this December, Braman and Mercer Island School Board President Janet Frohnmayer have decided to step down from their board of director chairs.

Vice President Brian Emanuels also will see his term end in December 2015, but hasn’t yet said what he plans to do.

Frohnmayer will wrap her second term on the board, where she’s served both as president and vice president.

After sending her youngest child off to college, Frohnmayer said her commitments to some of her other philanthropic endeavors may relocate her off-Island. She is board president of the Diabesity Research Foundation and serves as a board member of Educurious, both nonprofit organizations that operate out of Seattle.

“We moved here with a two-year-old and definitely were attracted to the schools and sense of community,” she said. “It’s a wonderful community to raise a family.”

One the first tasks with the board Frohnmayer faced in 2008 involved the search process for a new superintendent, which resulted in the hiring of then-interim Superintendent Dr. Gary Plano. Frohnmayer said the decision to hire Plano was one of the most important accomplishments during her time on the board. She also said developing the 2020 Vision, which articulated the School District’s mission to prepare its students for a 21st Century education, was fundamental to the district’s success.

“You can see how it’s really created a foundation for a lot of the work in the district, even though it was probably six-plus years ago that it was developed,” Frohnmayer said. “It still guides the overarching principles that guide the work.”

Frohnmayer believes the groundwork has been laid for whoever steps in next to have a smooth transition. The board’s governance model helps define the roles of the board and the superintendent.

“We’ve sort hung in there with it. We keep tweaking it and adjusting it, and we’re at a point where the model is doing what it’s supposed to be doing,” Frohnmayer said. “We’re monitoring the 2020 Vision, so we know the district is going in the direction we want with the Vision and the expectations that need to happen are happening.

“The governance model is in a place where new people can come on the board and use it. It will support them, even though they didn’t necessarily create it.”

Braman has held a myriad of roles within the schools since she was hired by Superintendent Robert S. Studebaker and began teaching in September of 1968. After teaching high school English for 26 years, Braman remained active in the teacher’s association, serving as president several times, and worked as executive director for the Mercer Island Education Association.

She was elected to the school board in November of 2003. She said at the time, the district was in turmoil.

“We lost several superintendents, and we were looking for people to run for the school board and no one would,” Braman recalled. “So I said, ‘Well, I guess I need to do it myself.’”

Since then, Braman  ran unopposed twice and served as board president, vice president and legislative representative. She said her 12 years of service offered stability for the board — something that previously may not have always been present. Like Frohnmayer, she also pointed to the institution of the board’s governance model as a turning point for the board.

“The governance model makes it clear the job of the superintendent and the job of the board,” Braman said. “The system works well with a capable superintendent. Without a capable superintendent, it gets really hard.”

Finding a capable superintendent is what Braman is most proud of while serving as a board member.

“The most important thing that happened was we had the good sense to hire Dr. Plano,” Braman said. “I think that dramatically changed and improved the district.”

While she still has grandchildren in school, Braman thinks it’s important for people who serve on the board to have children in Mercer Island schools. She hopes whoever steps in is a fresh face with young children.

“I’m hoping we can find diversity, some different-looking kinds of faces,” she said.

After seeing the passage of the second bond measure last year and a new elementary school on the horizon, Braman believes the district is in a good place, and she can now focus on the other parts of her life. She has her own business, and with grandchildren who play soccer, has become quite the fan.

“There have been major changes in the schools since I started in 1968,” Braman said. “We’ve always been what I consider a ‘lighthouse school district. I believe it is even more so today.”