Wichita school board member Ngoc Vuong resigns

Wichita Board of Education member Ngoc Vuong is resigning from the school board.

Vuong, who represents District 3, in southeast Wichita, announced his resignation Monday at a school board meeting. He is accepting a tenure-track assistant professor of psychology position out of state.

He was elected in 2023 at 23 years old — the youngest board member in the district’s history. Vuong is also the first Asian-American elected to the board.

During his tenure, Vuong told KMUW he pushed for more grassroots input in the district’s decisions.

“We are not the saviors in this,” he said. “We have to look to our community for answers, and we have to work with our community (in) lockstep.”

A graduate of Wichita South High School and Wichita State University, Vuong recently earned his PhD in community psychology at WSU. As part of his thesis, he continues to research the effects of bell-to-bell cell phone bans in Kansas schools.

Vuong cited former board member Melody McCray-Miller as an important mentor. The longtime community leader died in February.

“I miss her,” he said. “She was a champion for social justice and addressing those socioeconomic inequities and racial, ethnic inequities and outcomes [for] our students.”

McCray-Miller advocated for community schools, an education reform strategy that pairs schools with local health centers, housing assistance and other services to address the overall needs of students and families. The district launched a community schools pilot program with seven elementary schools last fall.

Vuong said he hopes to see the district continue to invest in the community schools model.

“A lot of this work that we’re talking about may have started with her,” he said. “It can’t end with her.”

One of Vuong’s last major votes was to support putting a $615 million bond referendum on the November ballot.

In his resignation letter, he said he hopes voters pass the bond issue “so that all our schools significantly improve the learning environment for this current generation and generations to come.”

The school board voted to appoint Sheila Brown-Kinnard to fill McCray-Miller’s former seat in May.

Now, the board will repeat the process to fill Vuong’s former seat. The district will announce later when it is accepting applications.

To qualify, applicants must live within District 3 and be eligible to vote. After the board accepts applications, it will publicly interview a pool of qualified candidates at a special meeting.

Vuong’s successor will serve the rest of his term, through December 2027.

Whoever the board appoints in District 3, Vuong said he hopes they will remember their role as a watchdog.

“My reminder to them is that, at the end of the day, it is the superintendent and district leadership that works for you — the board — not the other way around.”

This story first appeared at KMUW, Wichita’s NPR station.