School district seeking new board trustee
Joan Fish, Kelly Fisher and Geraldine Lewis, left to right, look on as new LPOSD trustee Purley Decker, right, takes the oath of office. —Photo by LYNNE HALEY
SANDPOINT -- The agenda centered on Robert's Rules of Order at the annual meeting of the Lake Pend Oreille School Board Tuesday evening. In keeping with the popular guide for parliamentary meeting protocol, school board chair Steve Youngdahl reluctantly surrendered his gavel to Shawn Woodward, district superintendent, in effect dissolving the sitting panel of trustees.
Youngdahl's deposition was short-lived, however, as trustee Joan Fish nominated him to chair the newly regenerated board.
"I'll nominate Steve again because ... I admire his energy and enthusiasm," she said.
The other trustees agreed with Fish and voted Youngdahl back into the chairman's seat. Newly sworn-in trustee Purley Decker then nominated longtime board member Geraldine Lewis to the vice-chair position, an office previously held by Fish, and board members voter her in unanimously.
Lisa Hals, CFO for LPOSD, will reprise her role as treasurer of the board, Kelly Fisher will continue as clerk, and Woodward will remain in his advisory role in the coming year.
Youngdahl, Fish, Lewis and Decker signed copies of the Code of Ethics for school board members and then approved the meeting schedule for fiscal year 2016-2017.
They then turned the discussion to the topic of filling the seat recently vacated by Barbara Oler. Her territory was zone 2, which the district describes as south of the Pend Oreille River, west of Highway 95, and south of Sagle.
The application period, now open, will close Friday, Aug. 5 at 4 p.m. Interviews will be held at the next regular board meeting Aug. 9. Applications are available online at www.lposd.org or at the district office, 901 N. Triangle Drive in Ponderay. To receive an application via email, contact the clerk of the board at kelly.fisher@lposd.org. Applications must be returned by the deadline to the district office, or submitted via email to kelly.fisher@lposd.org. The board will appoint an applicant for the remainder of Oler's four-year term, which expires next year.
Despite an abbreviated application period for the previous vacancy, board members determined they should allow more time for applicants to turn in their forms due to scheduling and the vacation season.