The State Board of Education consists of eight voting board members. Seven of the eight voting members are appointed by the governor for terms of five years. The eighth voting member, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, is an ex-officio voting member elected to a term of four years.
Dr. Linda L. Clark was appointed to the Idaho State Board of Education in 2015. She is a career educator who completed 43 years as an Idaho educator, and retired after more than 11 years as the Superintendent of Schools in West Ada School District, the largest and most rapidly growing district in Idaho. Prior to becoming superintendent, Dr. Clark was Director of Student Achievement for the West Ada School District, first principal of Joplin Elementary in the West Ada District, and a teacher and intern principal in the Boise Public School District.
Dr. Clark has been widely recognized for her innovative leadership and was the first recipient of the Concordia University Leadership in Action Award (2013), recipient of the 2014 Education Excellence in Leadership Award from the Education Research and Development Institute (ERDI), and recognized by EdWeek as one of 16 national Leaders to Learn From (2015). She has also received several awards for her work in expanding career-technical education and digital instruction.
Dr. Clark has a B.A. from Boise State University, an M.Ed. from the University of Idaho, and an Ed.D. from the University of San Francisco. Dr. Clark currently serves as a board member for several organizations, including Capital Educators Federal Credit Union and the Family Medicine Residency of Idaho. She served on the K-12 Education Task Force; as co-chair of the Higher Education Task Force; and is currently serving on the Governor’s Workforce Council.
William G. Gilbert, Jr. was appointed by Governor Brad Little to the State Board of Education in July 2021. Gilbert served as co-chair of Governor Little’s “Our Kids, Idaho’s Future” Task Force in 2019. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the University of Idaho and is a graduate of Borah High School.
Gilbert also serves on the board of directors for St. Luke’s Health System and Idaho Business for Education.
Gilbert is a former chairman and emeritus director of the University of Idaho Foundation.
A native Idahoan, Gilbert is the Co-CEO and co-founder of Caprock, a multi-family office investment firm, advising on more than $8 billion in client assets.
Shawn Keough of Sandpoint is the executive director of the Associated Logging Contractors which is an organization of Idaho based independent logging and wood hauling contractors with whom she has worked since 2000. Her work experience over the course of her career is in the fields of business management and public relations.
She also served in the Idaho State Senate from 1996 to 2018, making her the longest-serving female Senator in Idaho’s history. Her service included 18 years on the legislature’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, of which three years were as co-chair. In addition to other committees, she also served a total of five years on the Senate Education Committee. While serving in the legislature, her work in the area of higher education helped to lead expansion of higher education opportunities across Idaho including: expansion of North Idaho College satellite campuses in Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry; expansion of online college courses; implementation of dual credit college courses for high school students; expansion of career technical programs; and, establishment of 4-year degree programs through all of Idaho’s public colleges and universities both in Coeur d’Alene and online. She retired from the legislature in 2018.
Ms. Keough’s main focus in life is her family. Shawn and Mike have been married 32 years and have two grown sons, two daughters-in-law, and two grandchildren. Her husband graduated from the University of Idaho and taught in Idaho’s public schools 35 years. Their sons grew up in Sandpoint, attended public schools and graduated from the University of Idaho and Boise State University. Her grandchildren are starting their education in Idaho’s public schools.
Ms. Keough obtained an Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts from Lewis Clark State College in Lewiston and an Associate of Science in General Studies from North Idaho College. Ms. Keough holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies from Lewis-Clark State College.
Kurt Liebich has served on the boards of numerous educational nonprofit organizations, including Idaho Business for Education, Project Lead the Way, Riverstone International School, and the Lee Pesky Center. He recently served as a valued member of Governor Little’s ‘Our Kids, Idaho’s Future’ task force to strengthen public education in Idaho. He is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Boise-based RedBuilt LLC and New Wood Resources LLC. RedBuilt is a supplier of engineered structural solutions and New Wood Resources is a veneer and plywood products operation. Liebich also has served on the executive management team for the Weyerhaeuser Corporation, one of the world’s largest integrated forest products companies.
Liebich earned an MBA in General Management from Harvard University and a BA in Economics from Bowdoin College in Maine.
Cally J. Roach grew up on a family farm in southern Idaho. She is the retired Vice President of Corporate Relations and Organizational Development for the employee-owned Clear Springs Foods. Among her many involvements, she is a former member of the Idaho Parks and Recreation Board, the WWAMI/University of Idaho advisory board, the Idaho Business for Education board of directors, and the St. Luke’s System governance committee. Among her many past involvements, she is a former CSI Foundation president, former board member of Agri-Service, Inc., and a former executive committee member for the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry. She received her bachelor’s degree from Lewis-Clark State College and master’s degree in Human Resource Training and Development from Idaho State University. She graduated from Payette High School.
Cindy Siddoway owns and operates a multi-generational historic family sheep ranch in eastern Idaho. She also owns and manages an elk and bison hunting preserve. She is a past member of the Board of Trustees for West Jefferson School District 253. She has held numerous positions within organizations that promote production agriculture. She is married to former state Senator Jeff Siddoway and they have three children and four grandchildren. She is a graduate of Idaho State University and South Fremont High School.
Debbie Critchfield was elected Superintendent of Public Instruction in November 2022 and was sworn in on January 2, 2023.
Previously, she served as a seven-year member of the Idaho State Board of Education and was president during her final two years. Debbie was co-chair to Governor Little’s Education Task Force in 2019 and committee chair for Governor Otter’s Higher Education Task Force in 2017. She chaired the Re-Open Idaho Schools Committee in 2020 and was a member of the Governor’s K-12 Council.
Debbie was an elected school board member in Cassia County for ten years, five as board chair, and was on the executive committee of the Idaho School Boards Association. She is a former local library trustee and Oakley Valley Arts Council president.
She worked as the public information officer for Cassia School District for nine years, stepping down before her election as state superintendent.
A fourth-generation Idaho farm family, Debbie and her husband Dave live in Oakley, where they raised their four children. They have three grandsons.
