Ex-Pasco School Board president joins state board | Tri-City Herald

Pasco’s Ryan Brault is returning to public service after being elected to the state Board of Education.

Brault will be one of five elected members — three from Western Washington and two from Eastern Washington — on the state board.

The board is responsible for adopting statewide education goals, establishing credit requirements for high school graduation and approving charter schools.

The 16-member board also includes the superintendent of public instruction, seven gubernatorial appointments, one representative for private schools and two student representatives.

SIGN UP

School boards throughout the eastern half of the state picked Brault to serve until 2018. At that point, he will need to run again to serve another four years.

Brault, a financial adviser at Edward Jones, served one term on the Pasco School Board before he was defeated by Aaron Richardson in 2015. He also is past president of the Pasco Chamber of Commerce.

The state board’s Executive Director Ben Rarick said board members were impressed with Brault’s private sector experience, and hoped he would help steer the school system to provide career-focused education.

“He has a really strong reputation in Pasco,” Rarick said. “He is obviously a community leader and someone that wanted to give back.”

Along with his time with the school district and chamber, Brault is a member of the Tri-Cities Sunrise Rotary, Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce and a past board member of the Columbia Basin Badger Club.

“I look forward to helping the board achieve its mission of supporting a high-quality educational system that prepares all students for college, or post-secondary training, career and life,” he said.

Brault joins Richland resident Jeff Estes as a second resident of the Tri-Cities on the board. Estes, the former science, technology, engineering and math director director at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, was appointed by the governor in January 2014.