Frank Garrett concludes 32-year career on Endicott school board

Frank Garrett stands next to the famed Endicott Wildcat mascot.

The Endicott school has seen a lot of changes over the past 32 years. Since 1977, the district has begun sending its high school students to neighboring St. John and replaced an old, three-story brick schoolhouse with a new one-level school.

One thing that did not change in that span is Frank Garrett’s position on the Endicott School Board.

“It’s been a real challenge. And I’ve loved every minute of it,” said Garrett, an Endicott graduate who Monday night attended his first school board meeting as a plain citizen since 1977.

Travis Schluneger, who was elected without opposition, now occupies the Garrett seat on the board.

During his tenure on the board, Garrett, now 65, has seen two full generations of Endicott children through the school system and has worked with 11 superintendents.

“I did it all for the salary,” Garrett joked.

“I think we’ve done a lot to help educate our children,” he said. “Our schools have put out doctors and lawyers, and children that have been really successful in their lives. That’s what’s important.”

In Garrett’s first year on the board, Endicott graduated 12 students. Over the next decade that number steadily declined and hit a low in 1986, when Daniel Starrett was the sole Wildcat grad.

The final Endicott High School class in 1987 had six graduates.

Facing a lack of students, the board decided to look into forming a newly-allowed cooperative school district with a neighboring town. Garfield and Palouse established the first cooperative in the state of Washington for the 1986-87 school year.

“So Marv Lamb and I went over to Palouse and Garfield to see how they set up their co-op,” said Garrett.

While some of the parents still remembered epic athletic clashes between St. John and Endicott, students in the combo had no problem joining together.

“It was all about the kids. The kids that really solidified it,” said Garrett.

But shipping students to St. John left the Endicott board with another problem. Students still attended class in an old thee-story brick schoolhouse.

Paying to heat and maintain the old building was draining the district’s coffers, Garrett said.

“We’d put a new layer of bricks on the top and painted the windows, and by the time the school year ended, you couldn’t even tell we had done anything,” he said.

So school directors led a push to build a new school, which was finally constructed in 1994.

“Frank has a wonderful way of connecting with our patrons to explain an issue,” said Endicott Principal Suzanne Schmick. “And the patrons trust him.”

Board members credited Garrett with innovative thinking and bringing people together on tough issues.

“It was always nice to have a sage who has gone through it all,” said Marv Schmick, a member of the Endicott School Board.

Whenever the soft-spoken Garrett began a statement with ‘well, you know,’ members of both the St. John and Endicott boards listened.

“From the other side of the river, we always knew that when Frank said something, you better be paying attention,” said Mark Bailey, chair of the St. John school board.

Teachers and administrators said they appreciated Garrett’s genuine interest and involvement in the school.

“Frank was always calling me to make sure our decisions are really what’s best for the children,” said Rick Winters, superintendent of the SJE cooperative.

Garrett reciprocated the praise to Winters, Schmick and the teachers.

“When you surround yourself with good administrators and good teachers, the job of a school director is real easy,” he said.