A Madison County Circuit Court judge charged with appointing a new member to the Anderson Community Schools Board of Trustees has asked board members to provide a list of four qualified candidates for him to consider.
Madison Circuit Court Division 3 Judge Andrew Hopper said he has invited the board’s six members to “supply additional input and agree on four candidates to submit for the Court’s consideration,” according to a letter provided to The Herald Bulletin.
The ACS board has been without its full complement of seven members since Carrie Bale resigned her seat representing the Central District to accept a teaching position at Highland Middle School. The board deadlocked on Aug. 14 in choosing her replacement, with two candidates, George Salinas and Tariea Goehring, each receiving three votes.
With contracts for several key district administrative positions due up for review in December, board members have acknowledged a sense of urgency to have a new member seated in advance of the regularly scheduled public meeting on Dec. 12.
Hopper said he anticipates receiving additional input from the board by noon next Tuesday and plans to make a final decision soon thereafter. He noted that each board member was encouraged to provide a single-page letter of support for at least three of the four candidates. He also said that he would consider that list “instructive, but not limiting.”
“In the event of the Court finding no suitable candidate among the four candidates submitted by the board, the Court will appoint a statutorily qualified community member to fill the board vacancy,” Hopper wrote.
The board met in executive session Tuesday afternoon and finalized the list for submission. Board President Pat Hill confirmed that Salinas and Goehring are among the four names agreed upon. He vowed to work with the eventual appointee to expedite their transition and get them acquainted with board policies and other necessities.
“All we can do is try our best to get a board member up to speed and answer all the questions they’ve got,” Hill said. “It would be up to them if they wanted to abstain (from votes) if they feel like they don’t have all the information they need.”
This article appeared in The Herald Bulletin.