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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Gary Herbert has appointed a retired school superintendent and a school innovation specialist to the Utah State Charter School Board.
The governor's office also announced Wednesday Herbert's reappointment of DeLaina Tonks to a second term on the board. She is vice chairwoman of the charter school board and director of Mountain Heights Academy, an online public charter school for students in grades 7-12.
The new appointees include Bryan Bowles, who retired as superintendent of the Davis County School District, and is an associate professor at Brigham Young University.
Bowles, who oversaw Davis schools for 14 years, led the district in academic and technological innovations, pioneering what is now known as the state's Digital Teaching and Learning program. He was appointed to replace board member Bruce Davis, whose term expired.
Herbert also appointed Krystle Bassett, Juab School District innovation specialist, to the charter school board. Bassett, who is also an adjunct instructor at Snow College, is a member of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning and has been part of the leadership team behind Juab's recognition as a member of the League of Innovative Schools.
Bassett will replace Dean Brockbank, who completed two terms on the board.
"I'm very pleased with the exceptional qualifications of all of the nominees, and am eager to add the talents of these three new appointees to our State Charter School Board," Herbert said in a statement.
"We must continue to unite and focus the efforts of all education stakeholders to improve opportunities and outcomes for Utah students, which includes sharing the successes in both our district and charter schools and working together to learn from each other."
Utah has 129 public charter schools that serve more than 79,800 students, approximately 12 percent of the state's public school population.
