The Emporia board of education received an official 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. The actions came during a meeting Wednesday evening in the Mary Herbert Learning Center.
“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 appointed district judge by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, was a president and vice president of the board. 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 elected 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 someone to fill the 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, which he said would eliminate the opportunity for an orientation period.
Mary Helmer agreed, and said that candidates often attend many school board meetings to become familiar with issues and operations of the school district.
The board could choose not to fill the position, but function as a six-member board until July 1.
“It takes four votes to pass anything, anyway, so the tie (vote) is 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,”
Board members reached consensus that leaving the position open was not a viable option.
Helmer moved to begin with the second option. She included a proviso that Riles would talk with previous school board members who do not have an interest in serving past June 30. If no previous board member expressed an interest in the seat, the board would be able to discuss alternatives at its next meeting, after the filing date for school board seats has passed.
The motion passed 6-0.
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.