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Joan Feller's resignation from the Tracy school board last night was unexpected — much like her 15 years of service.
 Joan Feller / Tracy Press file photo
“I didn’t
even think I’d get elected,” she marveled in an interview today, “let alone be
on the board that long.”
But she
did, and she became a local expert on school bonds, facilities and the politics
of Tracy
academia, say fellow board members.
“I just
loved it,” said the 57-year-old mother of three. “I thought that the only way
I’d quit would be for me to lose an election one time or something.”
That’s why
her sudden resignation Tuesday night came as a shock to many.
Chronic
illness made her think twice about running for re-election in 2006, but she did
anyway and won. But her ailment’s persistent torture finally prompted her to
step down.
“It just
made it difficult for me to put as much time and energy into it as I wanted,”
she said. “So I thought I should open up that position and give someone else a
chance.”
She declined
to say what her illness is, except to say it is not life-threatening, just
life-changing. She told the board in a letter that she thought she’d get over
the pain that has plagued her for five years but that it proved to be
more overwhelming than she expected.
“Now,
hopefully, I’ll have time to get better,” she said.
During her tenure as one of the board’s
longest-running trustees, Feller put things in perspective as a parent, fellow board member Kelly Lewis said.
Superintendent
Jim Franco had the same sentiment.
“She was a
great supporter of our children,” he said.
Feller was
a board member when West High School was built and helped plan for the
under-construction John
C. Kimball
High School. She also
played a big role in pushing for bond initiatives, including the most recent
Measure E, which paid to finish West High and will pay for new buildings at Tracy
High, among other things.
“She’s
always helped us make good decisions and was on the board when we saw all these
significant changes,” Franco said.
Feller grew
up in Sunnyvale and Mountain View. She and her husband, Bruce
Feller, raised their daughter, Denise Byrd, now 35, in San Jose. The family moved to Tracy in 1992, and she
enrolled her two sons, Gabriel, now 31, and Joel, 29, in the Tracy school district.
As a mother
of two developmentally disabled sons and as someone who struggles with a
learning disability of her own, Feller said she is passionate about improving
special education in Tracy.
She sat on
the facilities and city liaison committees during her time on the board.
Serving on the committees helped her hash out the facts and talk one-on-one
with the public before she made any formal decisions as a board member, she
said.
“It was a
painful decision to make,” she said of her resignation. “But I’m very proud of
the administration, the educators and the other board members. It’s in very
capable hands.”
With her
resignation, four of the school board positions will be up for election on Nov.
4.
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To reach Tracy Press reporter Jennifer Wadsworth,
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Run for Mayor please!!!