The Sacramento City Unified School District held it’s last school board meeting on December 20th before preparing for the winter break. This particular meeting had several important items on the agenda. The board elected a new President, Vice President, and Second Vice President. In her parting speech, former President Diana Rodriguez said that “It was a great honor to serve as President. I always strived to keep the will of the board as I lead.”
Jeff Cuneo, former Second Vice President, was elected as President, and Patrick Kennedy was elected as Vice President. Darrel Woo, former Vice President, was elected as Second Vice President.
Luther Burbank High School’s varsity football team was honored as “Stellar Students” for their undefeated season and the board was presented with a game ball, signed by the team.
Also on the agenda were the renewal of Bowling Green’s charter, the First Interim Financial Report, and the 2013-14 Budget Calendar, all approved.
One of the most important items on the agenda was the appointment of a new school board member. Area 1 Board Member Ellyn Bell resigned from the position in late October. Six candidates, Jay Hansen, Anna Molander, Bina Lefkowvitz, Kathryne Tobais, Gwynnae Byrd, and David Ross, were running for the position to replace Bell.
The Board had to appoint a member during the meeting to avoid going into a special election, however, there is no procedure to appoint a new member in the event of a resignation. There was a long deliberation about how to go about the process and whether or not to just nominate someone, as all of the candidates were highly qualified and it was a tough decision to make very quickly.
There was a short period of time for public comment, where most took the opportunity to put their candidate forward one last time.
“It shouldn’t be a tough decision to follow the law of requiring a seven member board and appointing the most qualified person who best fits the vision of the board.” said retired school board member Karen Young.
Finally, four candidates Bina Lefkowitz, Anna Molander, David Ross and Jay Hansen, were put forth for nomination. In the end, Jay Hansen came out on top and was appointed unanimously to the Area 1 seat.
