The Baker 5J School District’s new superintendent is coming home.

The Baker School Board voted 5-0 during a special noon meeting on Thursday, March 3, to hire Erin Lair, a 2004 Baker High School graduate and former math and language arts teacher at Baker Middle School.

She attended Baker schools from kindergarten through high school.

“This place and the people here are very important to me,” Lair, 36, said. “The opportunity to serve our community in the role of district superintendent is an honor I don’t take lightly. I’m looking forward to getting to work. I have a lot of my heart, and my life, in Baker. It’s a community I’m really passionate about.”

The board chose Lair from among three finalists. The two others are David Marshall, the superintendent of Brookings-Harbor School District, and William Schildbach, principal of Tikigaq School, a pre-kindergarten through 12th grade school in Point Hope, Alaska.

Lair’s current job is director of school improvement for the Intermountain Education Service District. She worked previously as director of curriculum, instruction and technology for the Sherwood School District, and before that she was assistant charter administrator for Vision Charter School in Caldwell.

She and her husband, Shane, also a BHS graduate, own a cherry orchard in Cove.

The Baker School Board approved a 3-year contract with Lair that begins July 1, 2022, and includes a salary of $143,769 for the first year. The contract also includes up to $1,475 per month for health insurance, and two vacation days earned per month.

Lair will replace Mark Witty, who officially retired through the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System last year but has continued to work as superintendent.

Witty’s salary this school year is $149,738.

“Mark Witty has been a strong leader for the District,” said Julie Huntington, the school board’s vice chair. “As he retires from the role of superintendent, we are excited to bring on Erin Lair, who shares our vision and mission to collaborate and innovate in ways that help our students to reach their highest potential and our community to thrive.”

Lair said she plans to make frequent trips to Baker City this spring to meet with Witty and other district officials, and attend meetings as she prepares to take over officially on July 1.

Being a former Baker student and teacher aren’t Lair’s only connections to the 5J District.

Her mother, Vicki Edmundson, who lives in Baker City, is a former member, and chair, of the school board.

Owning a cherry orchard presents a unique challenge, Lair said, as she and her husband ponder plans for where they’ll live.

In the short term, Lair said she’s pleased that she can commute to Baker City.

The Lairs have two daughters, Audrey, 8, and Brooke, 6.

Erin Lair said she’s not sure where her daughters, who will be in third grade and first grade this fall, will attend school to start. She said she wants to ensure they have consistency in school, with a long-term goal of having them enrolled in Baker schools.