POULSBO — The North Kitsap School Board appointed Dr. Bruce Christen to the District 2 vacancy on Nov. 4.

Christen was one of three candidates interviewed during a special meeting in the board room. Joe Prevost and Amy Roszak also applied for the appointment.

Christen is an occupational medicine physician at Branch Health Clinic, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Before that, Christen served as a medical officer in the United States Navy for 27 years. He retired in 2008.

Christen has a master’s in public health from the University of Michigan and a medical degree from the University of Southern California. He has served as president of a homeowners association.

Christen said the goal of the school board is to be a connection between the community and the district, and to listen to the community’s needs.

Christen said one of the district’s strengths is its staff — a fun group, he called them. The district’s pressing issues include finding more funding or figuring out ways to get by with current funding. The District 2 position was vacated by Dan Weedin in October. Until the position was vacant, Christen had not thought about being a school board member, he said. If the position wasn’t vacant, Christen “probably wouldn’t have thought” about being on the board.

“The whole process for running an election is foreign to me,” Christen said. “Being on a board is not foreign.”

Christen will serve on the board until December 2015, when the term expires. He doesn’t know yet if he will run for election.

“The good news is I’ve got a year to figure it out,” he said.

Board directors serve four-year terms. Directors are elected school-districtwide, but must live in the director districts they represent.

The board’s responsibilities include: establish general policy, adopt and revise the annual operating budget, select and evaluate the superintendent, employ school personnel with recommendation by the superintendent, exercise the power to administer schools conferred by the Legislature, and keep the public informed on the needs and progress of the education system.