Gov. David Ige announced Monday that Bruce Voss will lead the Board of Education, replacing Catherine Payne, who hosted her last board meeting on Thursday.

Voss, an attorney and former reporter for Pacific Business News and KHON2 News, will begin his third, three-year term on July 1.

Voss said his philosophy is that “the Board of Education should never be the story, the students should be the story.”

“My role as chair is to be a facilitator, work with the superintendent and the board members to develop the systems that we need to support the students,” Voss said in a phone interview.

Voss said his priorities as chair will be to work with the superintendent to create a new team and systems aimed at improving accountability and communication. He also stressed the need to help at-risk students who fell behind during the coronavirus pandemic.

Voss has served on the board since 2016. He also chairs the board’s Finance and Infrastructure Committee. He will host his first meeting as BOE chair on July 14.

The BOE is an 11-member panel that’s responsible for creating policies across the public school system and public libraries. The board appoints the superintendent of the state Department of Education, the state librarian and members of the State Public Charter School Commission.