My first year on the school board I was so busy, I basically only managed time for the official meetings. I’ve been able to go to a few more events this fall, which has been really great for getting to know students, staff, and faculty better.
Yesterday, I went to the Rainbow Celebration at OPRF, where they talked about several of the things they offer to help support our LGBTQ+ students, including all-gender restrooms, all-gender locker rooms, name and gender changes on school forms (and in the yearbook), and more.
I gather, from talking to some of the parents, that some of these were a long…maybe not fight, but certainly ‘discussion with resistance’ with prior school boards. I feel lucky that I’m serving on the board at a time when we’ve made so much progress, and I don’t have to feel like a lone voice crying out in the wilderness. 
This school could be better, always, but I’m pretty proud of how far they’ve come already.
And hey, there will likely be a few OPRF school board seats opening up next year, so if you’re a local interested in serving on our school board, remember that petitions will need to be signed and gathered and filed by early December if you’d like to be on the ballot. I kept a blog when I was running the first time around, so if you’re curious about the process, you can check that out here: http://www.mamohanraj.com/miscellaneous/politics/
