In 1981 President Ronald Reagan took office, the movie “Raiders of the Lost Ark” was released and MTV started broadcasting.
And in early January of that year a Ross Twp. resident was being sworn — for the first time — onto the school system’s governing board.
Little did Edward Bosse suspect that for him, 1981 was also the beginning of the longest, modern-day tenure of any Butler County school board member.
After 40 years serving on the five-member board overseeing Ross Schools, Bosse decided last fall not to seek re-election and was recently honored by school officials for his long-running and historical contributions to making it one of the most successful school systems in the area.
“I thought I’d be on the board for a good 10-12 years, not 40 years,” said the 76-year-old Bosse, whose three sons all graduated from Ross High School.
The Hamilton County, College Hill native, who earned his degree from the University of Cincinnati before working as a sales manager for an area engineering firm, is modest about his contributions to Ross Schools’ long-record of academic success.
Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, which also threw Ohio’s annual district report card measurements into upheaval, Ross had put together years of consistently leading all other Butler County school districts in a number of major academic areas.
Bosse said the once rural and now largely bedroom, suburban school system “is not glamorous” like some other area, public school districts.
“But we run a high performance district that is very stable and business-like that offers full service learning programs,” he said. “And most importantly,” he added, “we care about people.”
And the people of Ross care back.
In the fall Bosse was honored as the grand marshal of Ross’ homecoming parade.
Ross Superintendent Chad Konkle said Bosse was “an integral role in the Ross Local School district that exists today. “He has been tireless in his desire to make education better for students, staff and families. His fervent dedication will be forever appreciated,” said Konkle.
And his longevity is a rarity among the region and the state’s other school board members, said Rick Lewis, executive director and CEO of the Ohio School Boards Association.
Among the more than 3,000 public school board members in the state, said Lewis, “27 board members with 40 or more years of service. That is about 7/10 of 1% or .007 of those serving. And I found a total of 59 who hit that milestone (four decades) in our system through the years.”
Bosse said what he’ll miss most about the emotional pushes of the publicly elected job — each term last four years — is attending Ross High School graduations.
“I love seeing the families and all the pride on their faces for their children.”
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