Trego's Mountain Ear

The board met Monday afternoon and the County Superintendent of Schools attended in order to swear in newly elected board members. Fawnette Richards was elected to a two year term by acclamation, and won with 98 votes. Clara Mae Crawford was elected to a three year term with 69 votes. There were 378 ballots sent out, 112 of which were returned. The majority of voters were not in favor of a four day school week.

While a voter turnout of slightly more than 20% seems poor, especially in a state that can expect 70-80% turnout in November of a presidential election year, it’s actually pretty good for a school board election. Nationally, 5-10% is much more typical for school board elections.

The organizational meeting began with the certifying of elections, then the swearing in of board members, followed by nominations for School Board Chair and Vice Chair. Board member Nancy Wilkins was appointed board chair, while Mark Spehar was nominated for Vice Chair. Mark accepted the position of vice chair, though he did so after voting against himself as vice chair (he had nominated former chair Clara Mae for the position of vice chair).

The board then proceeded with the approval of minutes, addressing a backlog of minutes, many of which needed corrections. After, there were various reports- bus repairs, school accreditation (going well- waiting to hear back), grant writing (Kelly Kiser is expecting to hear back in the fall about a $4,000 grant for the purchase of new library books), etc.

The meeting closed with interviews, which amusingly began with the board realizing that not all positions had actually been advertised officially, so that while interviews were possible, hiring definitely wasn’t.