In announcing that he would not pursue the office of Mehlville Board of Education president, Karl Frank Jr. read the following statement to the board last week:

“As most of you know, I wanted to be our next president of the Board of Education. I was enthusiastically looking forward to serving in that capacity and doing what I could to continue moving our district forward. My passion for the Mehlville School District comes only second to my family and work.

“My wife, Elaine, and I always dreamed of owning our own successful small business as entrepreneurs. In 2001, we took steps to make that dream a reality by starting our own computer consulting business.

“Unfortunately, similar to many new businesses, we failed financially. As a result, in October of 2005, we were forced to file bankruptcy. While this has been painful to us — and honestly embarrassing to us — we did learn from this. And we didn’t give up on our dream. It has been said that only in America do you get a second chance and today our business is doing well.

“In the best interest of the Mehlville School District and the 11,000 kids that are educated every day in our schools, I have decided now is not the best time for me to pursue board president. Instead, I think it is important that we come together as a board and rally around another leader, Tom Diehl. Tom has demonstrated that he possesses both the intelligence and leadership skills that are needed to be a great board president.

“This is a great moment in Mehlville history. I’m looking forward to this coming year where all of us are working together to improve the educational lives of 11,000 kids. I’ve made some mistakes in my personal and business life, and I’m sure I have made and will make mistakes serving on this board. The key is to recognize those mistakes and learn from them. I’m trying to apply that simple principle to everything in my life.

“I commit to this board and our community that I will work my heart out to move this district forward. Together, we can make a difference.”