New Murray Education Board member is ‘strong proponent of public education’

A few months after being appointed to the Murray Board of Education for precinct 4, Cris Longhurst realizes she still has much learning to do about her new position.

“I’m in a steep learning curve; I read the school board agenda twice before attending, I try to get out in our schools and absorb as much information as I can,” Longhurst said. “I didn’t come in with a specific agenda or political aspirations, just as this is my opportunity to serve the children and citizens of Murray.”

Longhurst was appointed to the board Oct. 12 after 23-year school board veteran Laura Baker died of leukemia. Longhurst was sworn in by Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen, and will serve in the post until the next election cycle in November 2012.

“I’ve known Laura for years; we’ve gone to the same church, live in the same neighborhood. Laura Baker was everyone’s friend and went out of her way to serve our children in schools. I know I can’t fill her shoes, but I can try to follow her footsteps,” Longhurst said.

Longhurst moved from Southern California to Murray in 1984 as a single parent of three sons who attended Murray School District schools.

“I didn’t have a chance to give back when my boys were in school. I was too busy working and providing, trying to raise my sons, that I couldn’t devote the time then. I know many people volunteered back then in the classrooms and on the foundation, and this is my opportunity to contribute now, for someone else’s kids as someone did for mine,” she said.

Since then, the Salt Lake Community College associate professor of developmental writing married Fred Longhurst and raised seven children. One son teaches special education at Hillcrest Junior High School, and she has a first-grade granddaughter attending Liberty Elementary.

“I’m a strong proponent of public education. Education is the great equalizer. It gives us all a chance to be in a democracy. I want to maintain the quality of education, literacy, opportunity for critical thinking, reading, writing, arithmetic,” she said.

Longhurst has served as a concurrent enrollment liaison between high schools and community college, and also knows the importance of solid writing skills.

“We need to make sure students are prepared for writing for their careers as well as for college. Writing is one of the solid fundamentals of education. Technology can aid in their learning, but it’s the synergy between the teacher and the student to learn the concept and then practice and apply them,” she said.

Longhurst said she is grateful for the opportunity to be on the board to serve Murray school children.

“The board sets the policies and the teachers and administrators are innovators of policies and achieve great outcomes,” she said. “I hope to add to the practical, common sense of the school district to educating the school children of Murray.”