Leah Sisemore has been selected to fill the vacant Centralia School Board position, following a unanimous vote during the board’s special meeting on Wednesday.
Sisemore will be sworn in during the Sept. 24 regular school board meeting.
The selection followed interviews with Sisemore and Monique Farland. A third candidate, Fatima Arceo, rescinded her application prior to the interviews.
Before the vote, Board Director Lisa Leon thanked Sisemore and Farland for applying and “being persistent and wanting to help our community and our youth.”
“I appreciated the honesty on some of the tough questions,” Board Director Sarah Holmes said. “It’s not easy to be asked what we’re not doing well, and answer that.”
Vice President Deb Parnham thanked the candidates for wanting to be a part of the team.
“It’s a hard job and people who are willing to step up and do it, and the people who are willing to come and share with us their views and perspectives, are very valuable to us,” President Tim Browning added.
“Thank you all!” Sisemore wrote on Facebook after the vote. “I’m thrilled and grateful for the opportunity to serve Centralia’s students, families, and community. I look forward to getting to work!”
Both candidates discussed a range of topics in their interviews, which included questions about the district’s strengths and weaknesses and why the candidates wanted to become a director.
Sisemore said education is “one of the most important responsibilities our community has.”
“I’m a parent with two students in our district currently, others that have gone through and graduated from this district,” Sisemore said. “I bring professional experience in behavioral health and public policy, budgeting, contracts and other local government experience.”
Sisemore said she’s learned that good governance requires “transparency, accountability and a willingness to ask difficult questions.” She added that she wants to help ensure Centralia’s vision of achieving academic and personal excellence for every student is translated into “measurable results for students and families.”
Sisemore said a strength of the district is its board, teachers, parents and the community at large.
“I have lived in a lot of areas in Washington state and the Tiger Pride at every level is unmatched,” Sisemore said.
When asked how she would handle opposing political views among board members and faculty, Sisemore said she thinks “politics as we know it doesn’t belong in the school board.”
“I think where certain things come down to navigating issues that may be political, again, identifying the root cause of the issue, what is the outcome that we want to achieve, and working together,” Sisemore said.
Sisemore admitted to voting against the Centralia School District levy in the past, but said she voted in favor of it during the last election, citing an increase in financial transparency.
According to her resume, Sisemore works as a provider relationship account manager for Carelon Behavioral Health. She previously worked as a program manager for the Washington state Department of Commerce.
Once sworn in, Sisemore will replace Kayla Mounts, who resigned from her position in mid-August after serving for about a year.
Mounts cited a desire to step back from her responsibilities since becoming a grandmother.
Mounts was sworn in on July 30, 2025. She replaced Maritza Bravo, who resigned June 18, 2025. Bravo had served as a board member since 2022.
Sisemore previously ran for the Centralia City Council District 2 seat in 2025, losing to Ray Chapman-Wilson in the November general election. That came after she was elected to the city council in 2021 as Leah Daarud before ultimately resigning.
