At its regular School Board meeting of August 27, the Lopez Island School District Board of Directors unanimously approved the appointment of Diane Dear to fill the unexpired term of Christa Campbell who resigned from the board, effective September 1.

Campbell served on the school board for 11 years and was the current chairperson, a position she held more than once during her time on the board.

“Christa will be greatly missed on the board, and certainly by me as well, as she was a good leader and unwaveringly held students and student learning as her highest priority!” said Superintendent Bill Evans.

Diane Dear, as the newly appointed director, will walk into her leadership role at a time when the district is experiencing strong academic success and enjoying solid community support. The district is also struggling with the same budgetary angst facing all school districts in the state, further exacerbated by declining enrollment.

Dear brings a broad background of leadership experiences, including current chairperson on the Lopez Island Family Resource Center Board, and past director experience on the board of LOHO. She has also been an attorney, owned her own law firm, and served as an adjunct professor at Arizona State University. She and her husband Todd Goldsmith own T and D farms, a certified organic farm on Lopez Island.

In other action, the board elected director Diana Hancock to be the chairperson and Lauren Stephens to the vice-chair position.