Justin Durham joins Sisters School Board

Justin Durham has been appointed to the school board to fill the position of Christine Jones, who has stepped down due to health reasons.

Don Hedrick, elected to the board in 2009, took over the gavel as board chair at the board's organizational meeting last Wednesday night.

Hedrick read a letter from Jones, who said, "As you know, I think board service requires dedication and a commitment of time and energy... due to health concerns, I cannot be the board member I would want to be and the district deserves."

Hedrick saluted Jones' work on behalf of the Sisters School District.

"In my 34 years in education I have never seen a school board member work harder or try to do more for kids than Chris has done," he said.

Cheryl Stewart was named vice-chair and the board swore in new member Kay Grady, appointed to fill out the last year of Glen Lasken's term.

The board had very recently gone through an interview process with "four solid candidates" and readily moved to appoint one of those candidates, Justin Durham, to fill out the next year of Jones' term. The seat will come up for election in November for a two-year term.

Durham is a product of the Sisters schools and works in the family business as director of sales and marketing for Sisters Coffee Company.