Norton, Iniguez and Thomas Sworn in to Wenatchee School Board; Barron Voted President

The newest edition of the Wenatchee School Board gathered for its inaugural meeting Tuesday night.

It was the first time the board met in person with the public present since late August.

Chelan County Superior Court Judge Robert Jourdan was on hand to swear in November General Election winners Katherine Thomas, Maria Iniguez and Julie Norton. The newly-elected directors were then joined by family for pictures before the meeting continued.

Position #3 Director Martin Barron was unanimously voted the board's next president after being nominated by Iniguez. No other nominations for the role were submitted and no opposition to Barron's ascension was made. Barron served as the board's vice president last year.

Barron said he was grateful for the privilege to serve the board in his new capacity. He also took a moment to recognize former president and current Position #1 Director Laura Jaecks. Jaecks just completed the second of two consecutive years as president, the first in the board's history to fill the role in consecutive terms.

"A year ago we asked Laura if she was willing to serve a second term because she was the one of us with the experience to serve as the first among equals ... for what we expected to be a very challenging year. We had now idea how challenging. Experience mattered." said Barron, "What Laura really gave was her wisdom and her humanity and she did this with dignity and grace. That really, really mattered."

It would not be a unanimous vote for the board's vice president. Thomas nominated Norton, while Jaecks nominated Iniguez. After both nominees also voted for themselves, Barron cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of Iniguez.

Norton was selected as the board's legislative representative. She will also join Maria Iniguez as the board's two representatives to their Policy Committee.