Othello School Board member resigns

OTHELLO — The Othello School Board is looking for a new member to fill an open seat on the board. Applications for the open district No. 4 position will be available Monday at the district office.

Prospective school board candidates, whether for the current open seat or people who are thinking about running in the future, will be invited to a workshop at 6 p.m. Feb. 19 to talk about the job of a school board member.

Board member Tony Ashton announced his resignation, effective Jan. 15, in a letter released at Monday’s regular board meeting. Ashton said at an earlier meeting he had plans to move outside the district boundaries.

The boundaries for district No. 4 are SR-17, SR-26, Kielian Lane, SR-24 and West Bench Road. A detailed boundary map will be included in the application packet.

District voters will decide the fate of a proposal to change Othello School District director district boundaries in a special election Feb. 14. If approved, it would change the board from four director districts and one at-large position to three director districts and two at-large positions. Board members thought about taking that into account, said board chair Rob Simmons, but the change won’t go into effect right away. As a result, the candidate will be selected from the current district No. 4.

Candidates must live within that district and be registered voters. The application period opens Feb. 4 and closes Feb. 22. Board members will have a special meeting prior to the Feb. 25 board meeting to review the applications.

Board member Jenn Stevenson was elected last November, and asked about a workshop to explain how the school board works. “I know when Ken (Johnson) and I were running, and others were running, the current board went through, ‘this is what policy governance is and this is what we do as a board’ so that there’s no confusion. No misconception about what they think they’re getting into.”

Stevenson said the workshop was a big help to her as a board candidate. “I did not fully understand until that workshop what the actual responsibilities of a board member were. When I was already running and in the middle of it.”

Simmons and Ashton presented that workshop, and Simmons said he would ask Ashton to help present it Feb. 19.