Clarno appoints Helt to state Board of Education

(Update: Adding previous board designee)

Oregon Secretary of State Bev Clarno announced Monday the appointment of state Rep. Cheri Helt (R-Bend) as the secretary of state’s designated appointment to the State Board of Education.

“I am delighted to announce the appointment of State Representative Cheri Helt as my designee on the State Board of Education,” Clarno said in a news release. “With Cheri’s incredible breadth of professional knowledge and previous school board experience in Central Oregon, I have no doubt she will represent this office and all of Oregon’s children well.

“I look forward to meeting regularly with Representative Helt as we work to ensure Oregon provides the best education possible,” Clarno added.

An aide to Clarno said she appointed Helt to take the place of the late Secretary of State Dennis Richardson’s designee, Kim Sordyl, who resigned last week.

Helt is a working mother with three children and is a business owner. She was elected three times to the Bend-La Pine School Board. During her service, high school graduation rates in the district rose 10%. She championed instructional technology to replace outdated textbooks and collaborated with teachers and administrators to create a performance-based compensation system.

“It is an absolute honor to be appointed to the State School Board by Secretary of State Clarno, who is a woman I admire greatly,” Helt said. “I look forward to further serving the students and teachers of Oregon by drawing upon my eight years of experience as a Bend-La Pine School Board member and as a mother of three children who have attended public schools.”