Colfax school board names Kathy Wride to vacancy

Kathy Wride was sworn in as a member of the Colfax School Board Sept. 27.

Wride will represent district two of the Colfax School district.

She will fill the seat vacated by the resignation of board member Steve Lyon, who has moved to Mount Vernon.

Wride served on the Colfax city council for 18 months. Last

November, she married city policeman Rob Wride. In February, she resigned from the city council under conflict of interest restrictions caused by her marriage.

Wride said she brings no specific agenda to the school board, other than working to help students as much as possible.

The Wrides have two children, a junior and an eighth grader, in the Colfax school system. Wride said she did not attend any of the public meetings after the public rejected the district’s first special levy proposal last year.

She feels she is starting her new position with an objective mindset, but has heard ongoing rumors the school board and administration have a lack of communication.

A survey taken by Colfax school staff last spring cited a lack of trust and communication between school employees and administration.

Wride said she does not know the inner politics and finances of the district well enough to make a comment on those topics.

However, she said she was willing to work for the interests of students and try to work as a team with the rest of the school board and the administration.

“I’m not one to raise Cain unless I feel the issue is majorly important,” Wride said.

While on the city council, Wride said she was not afraid to speak out strongly on an issue.

“If I feel strongly enough about a situation, I’m going to stand up for what I feel is right,” she said.

Lyon left the board in early summer after he was laid off from a position at WSU.

Superintendent Michael Morgan said Wride was the only applicant for the position. The district was approaching the end of the 120-day limit for finding a replacement.

“She had a real sense of wanting to help make the school a better place for kids,” Morgan said.