After Bill Clausmeyer stepped down from his position on the Tahoma School Board March 1, the board was in need of a replacement.

The school board decided during a special meeting on Feb. 27 to have Katrina Montgomery fill this role.

Montgomery was among three people, including David Porter and Kjellaug Rowe, who were chosen to interview with the school board during a regular board meeting Feb. 25, according to a press release from the Tahoma School District.

School Board President Didem Pierson said Montgomery was chosen from a field of highly qualified candidates.

“It wasn’t an easy decision,” she said in the press release. “We had excellent candidates. We have some incredible community members willing to step up and be part of our School Board.”

According to Montgomery, she has been thinking about running for school board for the last couple of years, but would have never ran against Clausmeyer.

“When it was announced that he was stepping down it just felt like the natural thing to do. I love Tahoma and all that it stands for and am looking forward to the opportunity to learn and grow with our district,” Montgomery said.

While she has no formal education background, Montgomery said she’s been involved with the Tahoma school system for more than 10 years as a classroom volunteer. She was also involved in the PTA, a member on Tahoma committees, a member of various Tahoma focused groups and as an employee/administrative substitute.

She said she felt like all of the involvement she has in the school district gave her a great foundation and wealth of knowledge for a “smooth transfer into this new role.”

Montgomery took the oath to become the new school board member at the March 12 regular board meeting.

She said so far, it does not seem like there is anything she would want to change in the school district because she thinks the district has a great thing going for it.

“Of course there is always room for improvement and I will definitely be looking for those opportunities,” she explained. “I am looking forward to learning even more about our school district and working closely with all of our stakeholders to keep Tahoma at it’s best for all of our students. “