Mary Claypool sworn into Monterey County Board of Education

Top Seaside community activists gathered at the Monterey County Office of Education last week to witness the swearing in of Mary Claypool as the newest trustee on its board.

Claypool, a business consultant, former executive director of the Monterey County Business Council, and columnist for The Herald, was appointed to fill the Trustee Area 6 seat left vacant in September with the resignation of Byrl Anderson-Smith.

Claypool will serve the remainder of the term, which expires Nov. 2013.

Claypool has served on various parent-teacher associations, worked directly in classrooms, and currently serves as a member of the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District Bond Oversight Committee. She has 42 years of experience working as a budget/management analyst for local government, including the City of Seaside and County of Monterey. She holds bachelor and master degrees from La Salle University.

In the picture, Monterey Peninsula Unified Trustee Helen Rucker swears in Claypool in under the watchful eye of Mel Mason, president of the Monterey County chapter of the NAACP.