Virginia Morgan of Cooper Landing was appointed to the school board during a special meeting Tuesday.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education interviewed four candidates — Shawn Butler, Katie Hamilton, Heather Lindquist and Morgan — seeking to fill the District 6 seat, which covers the eastern peninsula.
The District 6 opened when Martha Fleming, who was elected in October to the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education in an uncontested race, stepped down last month. In an Oct. 30 resignation letter, Fleming said she would not be serving on the school board this year due to unforeseen circumstances.
At Tuesday’s meeting, school board members said that choosing whom to appoint was a hard decision.
School board Vice President Zen Kelly, who was appointed to the board more than four years ago, said District 6 will be well represented.
“I was so pleasantly surprised to see all four people step up to fill this position,” Kelly said at Tuesday’s meeting. “I did the same thing the four of you did about four and a half years ago. I went through this process. It was extremely intimidating, but it was great to see there were four exceptional candidates to serve District 6.”
Morgan is a current member of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Planning Commission, a treasurer for the Cooper Landing School Site Based Council and a board member and vice president of the Cooper Landing Community Library.
She has a bachelor’s degree in music and elementary education, according to her application.
Her top three priorities as a school board member would be to “champion the unique diversity of our district’s schools and the importance of keeping them funded and open,” find more ways to provide opportunities for students in schools that have fewer choices, and increase staff, board and administration teamwork and enhance employee morale.
Editors note: This story was corrected to say that Virginia Morgan is the vice president of the Cooper Landing Community Library board, not the president.
