Bonds abruptly resigns from Milwaukee School Board
Michael Bonds has abruptly resigned from the Milwaukee School Board.
The longtime member and former board president stepped down Friday before the end of his term, which goes until April 2019, he confirmed Monday.
“I always said that when I reach the point that I feel I am not making a difference on the MPS Board, I would leave,” Bonds said by email. “I am at that point.”
Bonds was first elected to the board in April 2007 and was president from 2009 to 2013. He also works as an associate professor and department chair for the Education Policy and Community Studies Department at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Bonds said it’s been time-consuming working two jobs.
“You just reach a point when you know it is time to move on,” he said, adding he’ll have more time now to work on two long-delayed books.
Bonds said there were no other recent events that precipitated his decision to leave his term early. He said he’d been thinking about it for months and that now he’ll have more time to spend with his wife, Kathy Bonds, an administrator in Milwaukee Public Schools who is retiring this year.
Bonds has had strained relations with the Milwaukee teachers union of late. Bonds’ departure also comes on the heels of a major shift in district leadership, with Keith Posley taking over as an interim superintendent from outgoing superintendent Darienne Driver two months ago.