The State Board of Education has elected a new slate of officers for 2016-17.

Emma Atchley of Ashton will serve as board president, succeeding Don Soltman of Twin Lakes. The businesswoman and potato grower was reappointed in 2015 to her second five-year board term.

The other officers have direct ties to K-12.

Linda Clark of Meridian was named board vice president. Gov. Butch Otter appointed the former West Ada School District superintendent to the board in 2015.

Board secretary Debbie Critchfield is a spokeswoman with the Cassia County School District, and a former school board member.

The State Board is an eight-member panel composed of seven gubernatorial appointees and the state’s superintendent of public instruction. The board has far-reaching jurisdiction over K-12 and higher education policy, on matters as diverse as K-12 academic standards and college and university tuition and fees.