School board appoints Donald Leu as director

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The Blaine school board voted 4-0 to appoint Donald J. Leu as its fifth member at a special meeting February 16. Leu will be sworn in at the board’s regular meeting Monday, February 28.

Leu will fill former board member Laura McKinney’s district 5 seat for two years. McKinney officially resigned December 14, 2021, after being recently reelected in the November 2021 election to another term as district 5 representative.

The board was required to appoint a representative living within in the district to fill the seat by Friday, March 4. As of the board’s recent redistricting, district 5 includes Semiahmoo, areas south of Blaine and north Birch Bay.

Leu is professor emeritus and endowed chair in literacy and technology at the University of Connecticut, and directed the university’s New Literacies Research Lab in the Neag School of Education, according to the school’s website. He retired three years ago and moved to Blaine; he was born in Bellingham.

The school board interviewed two candidates, Leu and Paul L. Berg, in its special meeting last week. After over an hour in executive session to discuss the candidates, the board unanimously appointed Leu.

Berg said he has been in education for 40 to 50 years and that he cares most about the kids. 

Leu said during his interview that he has always been passionate about education and saw the opening as an opportunity to give back to the community. 

“I have a continuing passion for education and commitment to preparing youngsters for their futures,” he said. “I spent my career in that area, and I think one of the most important things we can do through life is focus on our future and prepare children for things.”

When asked what he believes to be the school board’s greatest achievement, Leu said getting the $12 million, six-year capital projects and technology levy passed in April 2018 and the letter the board sent to state officials in September 2021 requesting them to listen to community members against the state’s mask and vaccination mandates.

“That seemed a very even-handed approach, recognizing the constraints that you’re under and shaping their understanding of the pressures that parents feel,” he said. “I was pretty impressed by that letter.”

The seat will be up for election in the 2023 general election.

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