School board appoints new member

The Plumas Lake Elementary School District faced a gap on its board when Charles Mackay resigned in March. This position was filled earlier this month with appointment of Jeff Duggen to serve out the remainder of Mackay’s term.

Duggen is a four-year resident of Plumas Lake who has two daughters attending school in the district. His original involvement with the district, aside from that of a parent, was to volunteer on the PTO at his daughters’ school, but he felt he could be doing more.

“I started seeing a need for a deeper commitment, and I like to remain active in my children’s schooling,” said Duggen.

Duggen’s interest to get involved at the board level started more than a year ago when he began attending the school board meetings on a regular basis in order to gain a good grasp of some of the issues the district was facing. While the threat of budget cuts sparked his interest, he continued attending in order to stay involved and learn what was happening throughout the district on all levels. When the open position came up, Duggen saw it as a good opportunity to give back more.

“As a Christian, I feel a need to have a servant’s heart, and this was a good opportunity for me to serve in a way that affects our community,” said Duggen.

Duggen understands the district is facing a second year of budget cuts and he believes that cuts will need to be made in order to balance the budget. He feels that when approaching any decisions, though, the district and the board need to look at all areas individually before coming to any final conclusions.

Duggen’s appointment will last through the end of the year, but three seats for the district board will come up for election in November. He said his initial thought is that he'll run for a permanent position at that time.

Plumas Lake Life correspondent Michele Perrault can be reached at 763-3380 or e-mail her at mperrault@plumaslakelife.com