Atchley appointed to MSD Board

Keira Atchley will resume her position in the District 3 Marysville School Board seat after being appointed during a Jan. 12 special session of the School Board.

She was appointed with a 3-1 vote after interviews were held with three candidates from the district boundaries.

School board member Katie Jackson was the sole dissenting vote.

Atchley was previously appointed to the seat early in 2021. She was briefly in the news for appearing on Dori Monson’s Seattle talk radio show and expressing disagreement at racial equity training she received as an incoming board member.

Her application to run for the seat did not come to the state in time for her to be listed on the November general election ballot.

The only name on the ballot for District 3, Sherry Weersing, had also dropped out of the race and had filed a statement of termination of cancellation of campaign to the state’s public disclosure office before November.

During the general election Atchley ran a write-in campaign, but Weersing still received 80.3 percent of the vote.

At the special session interviews, Atchley said she wanted to be a part of the school board to improve local schools.

“To help ensure that our students in the community are receiving a great education and that I can advocate for the people within my district,” she said. “To make sure the students and teachers in my community are supported."

She said that transparency, education and engaging with the community were all important for school board members.

“The ability to not only listen, but to hear what the community needs,” said Atchley.

“Allowing availability for families to be heard,” she said.

She said that board members need to be involved in their community and connected to their parents.

“I want to be involved in the committee meetings and community meetings,” said Atchley.

“Hopefully we can get more people involved so they’re aware of what is happening before it happens,” she said.

Making tough decisions is also part of being a board member, she said during the interview.

“I understand it is a very scrutinized position and it does come with a lot of pressure,” said Atchley.

She said she hopes to “be able to explain those choices even when they are sometimes not the most popular opinion.”

Atchley said that the school board should work for their students and staff.

“We must find a way to support our teachers,” she said. “Academic success of every student is important.”