New member appointed to the Murray Board of Education

The Murray Board of Education has appointed a new board member for the Precinct 4 area of central Murray. Cris Longhurst was named to the position after applications were invited and interviews were conducted by the board. This action was necessary after Laura Baker’s recent passing. Baker had served for many years as a board member and community leader.

Longhurst comes to the Murray Board of Education as a long-time Murray resident (since 1984), with three sons educated in the Murray City School District. She is currently an associate professor at Salt Lake Community College, with school board member experience in her home state of California. A graduate of UCLA with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, and a Master of Arts degree in American Literature from BYU, Longhurst teaches college preparatory writing to students in the Division of Developmental Education at SLCC. Her motivation in applying for the Board of Education position was “to be able to help children prepare themselves for whatever opportunity comes along to them personally, academically or professionally.”

“Mrs. Longhurst brings numerous years of experience in the field of education to the table.  Combined with her many years of living in Murray, having children and now a grandchild in the Murray District, we feel that we have found a highly qualified person to fill our unexpectedly vacated board position,” said Darrel Pehrson of the Murray Board of Education. Longhurst will fill the seat until the next election cycle in November 2012. At that time, she may decide to run as a candidate for the seat.