Randy Pearson Retires from Waitsburg School Board

WAITSBURG – After 20 years as a member of the Waitsburg School Board, Dr. Randy Pearson has stepped down, leaving a vacant seat which the district is trying to fill.

The reason for his resignation? Pretty simple, he says: "I don't reside in the school district anymore, so I can't legally be on the board. Otherwise, I'd probably still be there."

"It is bittersweet," he added. "We love Waitsburg, and we have a lot of friends here. I grew up here, and I raised all my kids here, and it's a bittersweet choice to think about moving."

But after their youngest daughter graduated high school, Pearson and his wife decided to move to a condominium in Walla Walla to be closer to his dental practice and her family.

Pearson, a WHS alumnus, first joined the school board in 1997, when then-superintendent Burton Dickerson asked him if he'd be interested.

"At the point I came on the board, I'd already had three kids who'd gone through school and graduated," Pearson said. His twin sons were a year old at the time, and he says that he "knew that I was going to have kids going into the school district...I guessed this would be a good time to give back to the school that had been important to me for so many years."

Asked to name his proudest accomplishment as a board member, Pearson pointed to the process of selecting the school's leadership team.

"All of the time I was on the board, I believe we had three different superintendent searches, and I thought that all the superintendents that I was involved in interviewing and hiring brought good things to the districts," Pearson said. After that, he added with a chuckle, "the board didn't have to do that much."

Pearson sat on the board during the remodel of Waitsburg High School. "Managing that campaign and projects would also be one of my bigger achievements - and the school board's achievements," he said.

"It has been my pleasure to work with Dr. Pearson," said Waitsburg School District Superintendent Jon Mishra, who spoke of the departing board member as "a man of utmost integrity and character."

Mishra added, "His service to the district...has been tremendous."

The Waitsburg School Board hopes to announce Dr. Pearson's replacement later this month.