By Brenda Sexton

The Courier-Herald

After interviewing two candidates at length, the White River School Board will replace longtime board member Tony Abeyta with John McArtor.

The board selected McArtor for the District Director No. 1 position at a special meeting Oct. 27. He will begin immediately by attending the Washington State School Directors Association meeting Thursday in Spokane.

The Director District 1 position, which covers the area south of the Old Buckley-Sumner Highway and west of 234th Ave. E, in the Foothills Elementary School area, was left vacant when Abeyta resigned to devote more time to his health.

McArtor will hold the position until the election process in November 2005.

"He has a real passion for students and community members," school board President Jean Lacy said. "He knows what the community's about. He sees the direction we need to focus on.

"It was a hard decision and that's good when it's hard between two good choices," Lacy said.

Lacy said the board looked at McArtor's background as the determining factor to their choice.

McArtor worked with the Veterans Administration in five different regional offices until his retirement in 1995. Just prior to his retirement, in 1992, McArtor moved his family into the White River School District. After his retirement, he became an active volunteer in the district in areas like the Connections program; also, he spent years as an assistant coach in the high school soccer program.

He has seven children, two still attending school in the district.

"I think I can step in and work as a group and that's what it takes," McArtor said.

He joins board members Lacy, Peter Shook, Joe Dieringer and Susan McGuire.

In other business, the board:

€ announced there will be no school Nov. 11 in observance of Veterans Day.

€ scheduled its next regular meeting at 6 p.m. Nov. 17 in the district board/conference room.

Brenda Sexton can be reached at bsexton@courierherald.com.