Longtime Boise school trustee dies of cancer

Janet Orndorff
Janet Orndorff

Janet Orndorff — a teacher by training, who spent more than two decades serving on the Boise School Board — died Thursday from  breast cancer.

Orndorff was 68.

Orndorff was first elected to Boise’s school board in 1990 and served on the board until her death.

A native of Michigan, Orndorff moved to Boise in 1974 and taught in Boise schools from 1975 to 1979, according to her obituary at Idahostatesman.com. She was an active volunteer in education, coordinating the campaign for a Boise school bond issue in 1988, before her election to the board.

An excerpt from Orndorff’s obituary summarized her work on the board: “During her 23-year tenure on the board, she regularly lobbied and testified before the Legislature on behalf of public education, she spearheaded the effort to rewrite the district’s policy manual in a comprehensive manner that reflected our community’s values, she advocated for the preservation and renovation of Boise High School and she spent many days traveling around the country for the ‘Light House Project,’ a program for training school board trustees.”

Idaho EdNews Staff

Idaho EdNews Staff

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