Ruighaver Appointed to Butler Board of Ed

The Butler Board of Education appointed a new board member on Monday night as it welcomed Julie Ruighaver into its ranks, effective immediately.

Ruighaver, whose son attends Aaron Decker Elementary School, replaces Al Marion, who resigned from the board last month.

“I’m involved in the school, and very involved with my seven-year-old son in second grade,” said Ruighaver. “He’s my primary focus, and anything that I can do to help him and the other students in the district in working with the community, working with the teachers, I’m excited to do that.”

Ruighaver was selected over three other possible candidates—Deanna Polons, David Tadros and Patti Van Treuren. Ruighaver told the board, before they reached a decision, that if chosen, she would pay close attention to detail when it comes to board matters and communicate openly with all involved parties.

“When I take on a job and set my mind to do something, I see it from start to finish,” said Ruighaver. “I like to work with people, and hopefully that would be an asset to your board.”

Ruighaver believes she can be a source of communication to the public during budget season, which can make a big difference in whether a school budget passes or fails.

“A lot of the people in the community don’t realize what you do as a board," she said. "April always sticks in my mind. People are hard at work trying to get the budget passed, and there always seems to be a struggle in the community.

"It’s important that people understand why certain decisions are made,” she said.