RICHMOND – The Richmond Board of Education hired Dr. Marlaine Boyd to serve as Dear Elementary School principal. She will replace Piper Peterson, who retires at year’s end. “She’s been a really great fixture for our district. She’s done some great things at Dear,” Superintendent Greg Darling said Wednesday. “We’re sure appreciative of the work she’s done. “She’s been an integral part of the Dear atmosphere being a very positive, safe culture and we will miss her.” Boyd comes to Richmond from the Blue Springs School District, where she has been a kindergarten teacher and has worked with the Blue Springs Leadership Academy with a variety of experiences within the administrative field. “We’re anxious to have (Boyd) start,” Darling said, after winnowing down what he described as a strong field of 15 candidates. “We had some experienced people and we had some that wanted to come closer to the Kansas City area. … We were really pleased. It was tough to narrow down some of the interviewees.”…