The Switzerland County School Board of Trustees met last Wednesday night, July 27th, to discuss and then select a new member of the board. The new member would take the place of former Craig Township School Board member Nancy Peters, who resigned in June.
After a round of questioning the week before, Wednesday night started out rather strangely before the board settled on a unanimous selection of Greg Bosaw to serve out the remainder of Peters’ term, which will expire at the end of the year in 2018.
There were three candidates from Craig Township: Kenny Briggs, Bosaw, and John Keeton, and all three answered questions during the interview portion that was held on Thursday, July 21st.
Only Briggs and Bosaw were in attendance for last Wednesday night’s meeting.
After calling the meeting to order, Board Vice President Katie Collier – Peters had been President prior to her resignation – asked for a motion from the board.
At that point, board member Joe Bennett moved to appoint Bosaw, and board member Josh Deck seconded the motion.
With no discussion coming on the motion, Collier moved for a vote.
At that point, Bennett, Deck, and board member Jill Cord voted for Bosaw; while board members Collier, Wayne Daugherty, and Bill Roberts all abstained from the vote, making the official vote three for; none against; and three abstaining.
Board rules call for a candidate filling a position to receive at least four votes – a majority of a seven-member board – in order to be approved.
Following the vote, Collier told the audience the reasoning behind her abstention.
“I would like to say that I am abstaining due to a professional working relationship with one of the members, one of the three individuals,” she said.
“So, Matt, what does that mean now?” Superintendent Mike Jones asked.
“Well, we need four positive votes for any single person, so we can ask for another nomination, or if you would like to call for another motion,” Hocker responded.
Collier then asked if there was another motion for the board to consider, and when there was none, the six board members again turned their attention to Hocker.
“So what’s the process if the board cannot agree?” Jones asked.
“If the board doesn’t have four positive votes for any particular candidate, then the statute says that the Judge shall appoint someone,” Hocker responded. “It doesn’t give any timeline. It doesn’t give a process for him to do that, but our Circuit Court Judge would be Judge Coy.”
That’s when Briggs made a surprise request, one that truly showed that he had the best interest of the schools, the children, and the unity of the board in his heart.
“Would it help if I dropped out of the running?” Briggs said quietly from the audience. “I can drop out. I think Greg would be a fine choice as a board member.”
With that, Hocker turned and asked if the board now had another motion.
Deck then nominated Bosaw, with Bennett seconding the motion. The following vote was unanimous in favor of Bosaw, and he came forward and was officially sworn in by Hocker as the new representative from Craig Township.
“Again, I would like to thank all three of the candidates for their time,” Collier said. “They all came in last week for an interview. We put them through a 30-minute interview, and it wasn’t very much fun for them, I’m sure, but we really do appreciate them putting their names out there and coming in for the interview. It shows how much you care for your community and your schools.”
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Following Bosaw officially being seated, the school board then wen through a reorganization of its officers.
Collier was elected President; Deck was elected Vice President; and Cord was elected as secretary.
In other business discussed by the school board:
– The school board hired new employees for the coming school year. Brandi Bear was hired as the new art teacher at Jefferson-Craig Elementary School; Lori Hitzfield as a special education instructor at Switzerland County Middle School; Joe Webb for a custodial position at Jefferson-Craig; and Jessica Crepin as the attendance secretary at Jefferson-Craig.
-The next public meeting of the school board will be held on Monday, August 15th, with an executive session at 5 p.m. and the open meeting at 6 p.m.
– In the board comments section that closed the meeting, all seven members of the school board praised Briggs for his unselfish commitment to the schools.