Update 9/28/24- BOE Vacancy

To the Talawanda Community:

The Board of Education would like to provide information regarding the rest of the process for the appointment to fill the remainder of the unexpired term on the Talawanda School District Board of Education, recently made open through the resignation of Mr. Bothast. Twenty-five individuals expressed interest and 16 submitted completed applications. We deeply appreciate the willingness of so many members of our community to step forward to help keep our district moving forward, and are grateful that we have such an impressive pool of applicants to consider.

All remaining board members have received the completed applications and are reviewing them before we meet in Special Session this coming Monday, Sep. 30, at 5:00 pm. The agenda for that meeting has been publicly posted on BoardDocs, and can be accessed through this link below.

https://go.boarddocs.com/oh/tsdoh/Board.nsf/Public

After we open the meeting, we will move into Executive Session, during which we will discuss the applications. No vote will be taken during the Executive Session, we will simply be sharing our perspectives and discussing the merits of the applicants. When we reconvene in open session, we will welcome visitors and have public participation. As usual, public participation will be limited to 30 minutes total, with 3 minutes for each speaker. After public participation, one of two possibilities will emerge:

1. If a board member would like time to gather more information, they may make a motion to schedule a second Special Session. If the motion is seconded, it would proceed to a vote, and if a majority agrees, then a date and time for a second Special Session will be determined, and the meeting will adjourn.

1. If a second Special Session is not moved, seconded, and voted in the affirmative, then the Board will begin a process of moving to accept an appointment of a specific applicant. This may involve a series of possible motions as we work through the list of applicants. For example, if the first applicant on the list doesn’t receive a motion, or receives a motion but doesn’t receive a second, or receives a motion and a second but does not receive a majority of the votes, then we will move to the next applicant on the list. This will proceed until an applicant receives a majority of the vote of the board members, at which point the process will end and the appointment completed. 

It may also be the case that we are able to bring forth from Executive Session a limited number of applicants, rather than work through the entire list of 16 names.

If no applicant receives a majority of the vote, then we would proceed to scheduling another Special Session. Be aware that an appointment requires a majority vote, not a unanimous one.

In addition, applicants are welcome to attend the meeting on Monday, but it is not required of any applicant to be present. If an appointment is made at the Monday meeting and the applicant chosen is in attendance, it may be possible to proceed with the swearing in of the newly appointed member at that time. If the appointed member is not present, they will be sworn in later in the week or early the next week. State law allows that the swearing in of a board member is not required to take place in a public meeting as long as it is conducted by an official who is authorized to do so. Mrs. Tafelski, the Treasurer, is such an official. By state law, this appointment must be made by October 9, which is the 30-day limit to complete the process. 

TSD Board of Education