Oconee County Board of Education Announces Process to Fill Vacancy on Board

This is the actual memo sent to parents a few hours ago - when the candidates qualified they did not know of this situation with Breedlove's resignation, so this has the disingenuous stink of a bait and switch at the very least _______________________________________________
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You may ask - My God what have I done?

Woven brightly,

Daniel J. Matthews, Jr.

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To: danmatt@hotmail.com
Subject: FW: [ocsinfo] Oconee County Board of Education Announces Process to Fill Vacancy on Board
Date: Thu, 20 May 2010 16:23:18 -0400

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From: ocsinfo-bounces@web.oconee.k12.ga.us [mailto:ocsinfo-bounces@web.oconee.k12.ga.us] On Behalf Of John Jackson
Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 2010 8:12 PM
To: John Jackson
Subject: [ocsinfo] Oconee County Board of Education Announces Process to Fill Vacancy on Board

The Oconee County Board of Education held a Special Called Meeting this evening, May 19, 2010, to discuss the process to be used to fill the Post 5 vacancy in its membership created by Tom Breedlove's recent resignation from the Board.  Chairman David Weeks began by providing some historical information.  He stated that a constitutional amendment from 1964 sets forth the procedure the Board is to use in filling a vacancy.  Specifically, Georgia Constitutional Amendment Number 135 (1964) contains the following statement: 

"Any vacancy occurring in the membership of the Board of Education of Oconee County, for any cause whatsoever, shall be filled by the majority vote of the remaining members of the Board of Education."

Chairman Weeks also reminded fellow Board members of the process that was used to fill two vacancies that have occurred in the last ten years.  In the earlier instance Board members named one of its own to fill a vacancy in the chairmanship, then opened the resulting vacant post to applicants.  Most recently, the Board accepted applications to fill a vacancy created when Tom Porter stepped down in order to take a job out-of-state.  Weeks then proposed the following steps to be taken to fill the current vacancy in Post 5.

1.  Chairman Weeks will approach all four candidates who recently qualified for election to Posts 2 and 3 and will ask if any would like to be considered by the Board for appointment to Post 5.  (Those candidates include:  Kim Argo, Mack Guest, Carter Strickland and Mark Thomas.)  Weeks explained that these individuals have already expressed an interest in serving on the Board of Education and should therefore be given first consideration for this shorter term of service.  A response will be required before June 7, 2010.

2.  At or before the June 7, 2010, Board of Education Work Session, the Board will discuss those who expressed interest in Post 5 and will further discuss the selection process. 

--If two or more candidates desire to be considered for Post 5, a selection process will be discussed. 

--If one candidate steps forward, the Board will discuss and possibly vote on that candidate. 

--If none of the candidates are interested in Post 5, applications will be opened to others at some point.

After discussion and questions from Board members, all four Board members were in agreement with the steps as outlined and proposed by Chairman Weeks.

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John A. Jackson, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Oconee County Schools
34 School Street
Watkinsville, GA  30677
706-769-5130 x2106 - office
706-614-2374 - cell
www.oconee.k12.ga.us

"Dedicated to Continuous Student Improvement"