Redondo Beach Unified School District Board of Education member Anita Avrick was advised to keep a box of tissues handy during her final school board meeting on Tuesday night.
It was good advice. Between the heartfelt speeches, comments and gifts commemorating her eight years on the board and 20 years volunteering in the district — including plaques, framed jerseys, and even a street sign — she went through about half the box.
“Everybody in this district is amazing. It made me so proud to be part of something that everybody cares about — every single person cares! And so I just need to thank you for letting me do this,” Avrick said.
“We demand more from teachers and administrators and everybody who works here, so much more than any district does…and as a board, we try to do the same for you. Because we all do that, we all give 150 percent, it works and this is a destination district,” Avrick said.
The night was largely a tribute to Avrick’s time on the board, including some light roasting from staff and other board members.
“Anita came to us with a degree in business and market, but a background with law school, television and entertainment…she knows how to deal with large moving parts and difficult people,” said RBUSD administrator Susan Wildes. “She worked tirelessly to grow the success of students with her own brand of subtlety: ‘I’m not telling you what to do, I’m just saying.’”
Avrick began her involvement with the district when she enrolled her daughter, Ashley, in elementary school in 1993, and joined the school’s Parent-Teacher Association. Before long, Avrick rose up the ranks through the school site, area and eventually to lead the 33rd District California State PTA. She won election to the school board in 2011, known for her constant presence at meetings and criticism of the then-current board administration.
During her tenure, the district passed Measure Q, a technology infrastructure bond that built solar panels at school sites across the district and allowed for one-to-one student-to-computer programs. RBUSD also finalized plans to utilize the former Patterson Elementary School on Knob Hill Avenue, leasing the land to Fountain Square Properties for the Kensington memory care facility.
Those efforts, she said, are the fruits of collaboration between the board, the district’s teachers and RBUSD administration.
“When she believes in something or somebody, she will advocate, fight, brawl in supporting that person or program, and that’s priceless as a superintendent,” said RBUSD Superintendent Steven Keller. “She cared about all things RBUSD, and she bled our brand. She will be missed.”
“She said one day, very emphatically, you’re going to replace me when I term out of the school board,” said board member-elect Raymur Flinn. “I laughed — it seemed so far away, but she said it and meant it…and it was an honor.”
“I think it’s her depth of character: she says what she means and means what she says, and you don’t meet many people like that,” Flinn said. “She is Anita, always, and she does really care about absolutely everyone, and she will fight for you when she’s on your side.”
