The Emporia board of education officially received a letter of resignation from member Jeffry J. Larson and looked for a workable solution to fill his seat until June 30, when winners of the April election are sworn in.
"This is one of those bittersweet moments," said Board President Grant Riles, as he prepared to read Larson's letter dated Dec. 18. Larson, who has been president and vice president of the board, recently was appointed district judge by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. He has served seven and one-half years on the Emporia board.
Larson's letter explained that judicial canons do not allow him to hold an elective office.
The board accepted the resignation and discussed options for replacing Larson. State law requires the board to pass a resolution to publish notice of the vacancy. The board will need to wait at least 15 days after that to fill the seat.
"It doesn't say you have to fill the vacancy within a designated period of time," Heim said. "The tricky part about filling this vacancy is that we're in the middle of an election cycle and Jeff's position is up for election right now."
Under normal circumstances, the advertisement would draw applications, the board would interview selected candidates, and select the candidate to fill the remainder of Larson's unexpired term.
"In this situation, if we do that, we would almost certainly be interviewing someone who is a candidate (in the upcoming election), Heim said. "It's probably not a good option."
The second option would specify that applicants have prior board experience and no interest in being elected to serve beyond June 30.
"Then you eliminate the possibility of appearing to favor one candidate," Heim said.
The board also could wait until after the April election, then appoint the winner to the board. Heim said that option would eliminate the opportunity to have an orientation period.
"It would require a real commitment from that person to get up to speed," Heim said.
Mary Helmer agreed, and said that candidates often attend many school board meetings to become familiar with issues and operations of the school district. Appointing the winner would eliminate that education period.
The board also could choose not to fill the position, but function as a six-member board until July 1. That would open the possibility of 3-3 tie votes.
"It takes four votes to pass anything, anyway, so the tie's not really a problem," Heim said.
"If you're unsure, if you need more information, I don't think we need to get in a hurry.
During discussion several board members agreed that leaving the position open until July was not a viable option.
Helmer moved to begin with second option, and included a proviso that Riles would have an opportunity to talk with previous school board members who do not have an interest in serving past July 1. If no previous board member expressed an interest in the seat, the board would be able to discuss alternatives at its next meeting.
The motion passed 6-0.
The board heard a report on the social-emotional learning program that has been implemented district-wide. The report was presented by William Allen White staff members Cathy Williams, student support specialist; Robbie Hill, WAW counselor; Julie Cromwell, fourth-grade teacher; and Cathy Dorcas, third-grade teacher.
Williams told the board that the cooperative, coordinated approach to student needs is key in the program.
"It takes a positive relationship with hom, school and community to further success," Williams said. The goal is that students value education and the community and that they develop decision-making and problem-solving skills, responsible behaviors, social, interpersonal, and self-management skills to achieve success in school and in life."
Hill showed the board the "Control Signals" component that the group uses as part of its problem-solving process with students, classroom teachers and other adults in the building. The red, yellow, and green traffic sign motif reminds students of the actions needed when difficulties are encountered. Red denotes "stop and calm down, state the problem, state how I feel."
Yellow stands for "Think, make a positive plan. Will my plan hurt anyone? Will I get into trouble? Can I make my plan work? When do I start?"
The green sign opens the way to act on that plan and evaluate it. "Did my plan work? Did I show respect for myself? Did I show respect for others?"
"That is, we feel, a real important thing to teach children, because others around them may not be making the best decisions," Hill said.
Several other models are used to strengthen relationships and social skills. For some, the latter are learned and basic, she said.
"There are a lot of children who don't have that kind of teching, coaching," Hill said. "We find that children come to school not having the social skills they need to be successful."
Studies have shown that lack of social skills can result in delinquency, dropping out of school, low self-eseem, delayed cognitive development and, later, in loss of employment, she said. Approximately 85 percent of people who lose their jobs do so because of lack of good social skills.
Development of assets also is key to success. Children with more assets become teenagers with assets, Hill said. Those youngsters are far less likely to be involved in violence, or to encounter problems from alcohol or illegal drugs. They also exhibit more leadership qualities and have better success rates in school, among other pluses.
Students in different grade levels also are working together as "buddies" to encourage friendships and role-modeling as they learn to cooperate and solve problems.
The women explained how the school counselors, psychologists and support workers coordinate the project, involving teachers, families and, when necessary, outside agencies to fulfill needs of the students.
In other action, the board agreed to purchase a Meal Service food-service package from the Superior firm in Wichita, which serves 140 districts in Kansas and 2,000 nationwide. Meal Tracker will replace the existing food-service software. Food service director Jill Vincent said that her department is self-supporting and money to pay for the $21,800-plus software will come from her department's budget.
The board also formally accepted a computer donated by Wal-Mart and $1,000 donated by Frito-Lay, both to Logan Avenue School, and $1,000 from Rhonda Savage of Truelove Consulting, who donated money to pay travel expenses of the debate and forensics students who qualified to attend the national tournament this year.