Voters approve Othello School Board reapportionment

Othello — In a special election on Feb. 12, residents of the Othello School District approved the reapportionment of the school board. The reapportionment will realign the school board to three director districts and two at-large positions.

This is not the first time that the school board has had a reapportionment vote. A few years ago, the Othello School Board was having a hard time finding members for one of their, then, five director districts. At that point, voters approved the redesign of the school board director districts and one at-large position was created.

With the resignation of board member Tony Ashton on Jan. 15 of this year, the board decided to change the director districts again, reducing the number from four down to three and creating a second at-large position. The reapportionment was approved during the special election on Feb. 12.

“This gives more people a chance to run for the school board,” said Rob Simmons, Othello School Board president.

The new director districts will not take effect right away.

“Our hope was that it was going to be able to go into effect this year when the position opened up for appointment,” Simmons said.

For now, the school board must wait until the next time a position comes up for reelection.

Rachal Pinkerton can be reached via email at rpinkerton@columbiabasinherald.com.