Charlo school board to increase in size
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CHARLO – After lengthy consideration of whether or not a larger or smaller school board is more effective, the Charlo District’s Board of Trustees voted on Feb. 18 to increase the size of the board from seven members to eight members in the upcoming May election.
The decision was prompted by correspondence from the county superintendent’s office and the state Office of Public Instruction that indicated that by law, the elementary board should have three, five or seven members from Charlo, in addition to a high school member from Dixon.
“Everybody else interpreted it as the entire board being three, five or seven,” District Clerk Sara Vaughan said. “That’s just for an elementary district. You can have a six member board with one being a high school district (representative).”
Since most of the board’s decisions are district-wide and not specific to the elementary or high school individually, the even-numbered board could create a problem in the future in the event of a tie vote.
“It could put us in a situation where a motion could die because we have a tie,” Superintendent Thom Peck said.
The decision to increase the board’s size came after a debate over whether or not a larger or smaller board is more effective. The board’s ability to function properly usually depends largely on who is on the board, Trustee Diana Kelley said.
“If everybody is working together I think it’s good to have the extra input,” Kelley said. “ ... I’ve seen boards where we didn’t have that. I’ve seen board meetings where people got mad and they threw things. I don’t know that it’s going to be a whole lot different if you add one or if you add three.”
Downsizing the board would mean only opening one of the seats for election currently held by Kelley or Danny Krantz. Increasing the size of the board left the possibilities of adding a Charlo or Dixon representative.
Chairman Shane Reum said it wouldn’t make sense to add a Dixon position because it is already incredibly difficult to get a person to serve the Dixon seat, which is currently held by Reece Middlemist, who was appointed to the board last fall and must run in the May election. There is also only one person in the high school who is from Dixon, Reum said.
“So we’re going to have two board members representing one person?” Reum asked.
Other board members pointed out that the extra seat would represent Dixon taxpayers, not only Dixon students.
In the end, timing played into the board’s final decision to open a third Charlo seat for election. The board’s latest resolution, which was drafted with input from former Lake County Superintendent of Schools Gale Decker and attorneys, calls for eight board members, with seven Charlo representatives and a Dixon representative. Redrafting that resolution would take time ticking against a March 28 filing deadline.
Board members were doubtful they will able to get people to file for all of the seats. No one has shown interest yet, Vaughan said. If newcomers do flood the ballot and are elected, it could derail some of the board’s ability to function, Kelley said.
“If you’ve got half of your board that’s totally new, it’s going to be really hard for the board chair to get business conducted, I think,” Kelley said.
