Appointee will serve remaining two years of term of Chuck Marsh who resigned in February
Two years ago, Alamance-Burlington school board members spent six months dickering over whether and how to fill a vacancy among their ranks.
This week, it took maybe five minutes for school board members to set a March 21 deadline to submit a letter of interest to serve the remaining term of former school board member Chuck Marsh, who resigned on February 27.
During the board’s work session Tuesday afternoon, school board member Seneca Rogers – who was appointed in November 2023 to serve out the remaining term of former four-term board member Patsy Simpson, who resigned in April 2023 – suggested that the board should act with a sense of urgency this time.
“I do think it’s important to fill that seat because of how long is left,” said Rogers, who was subsequently elected to a full, four-year term on the school board in November 2024.
Marsh was elected to the school board in November 2022 for a four-year term that runs through early December 2026.
“I think we should stick to the previous process: [candidates can submit] letters of interest, any other information, then come to the evening meeting and speak about why they want to be appointed,” Rogers said. “I think we should stick to that process this time around also.”
Tameka Harvey, who was elected to the school board in November, agreed that the board should follow the same process to fill the seat that had been used after Simpson resigned in 2023. “Then we go about picking who’s best for the board seat,” she said.
“I concur,” school board vice chairman Dan Ingle said Tuesday.
School board member Avery Wagoner also agreed, saying Tuesday, “I think those who want to be part of this board already have that inkling [of how to go about applying].
Wagoner, who previously ran for the board in November and placed fifth for three open seats, also applied for the vacant seat in 2023. He was passed over when the board voted in November 2023 to appoint Rogers, who placed fourth for three open seats in 2022, and was ultimately elected to a four-year term in November.
“Maybe go ahead and get it posted,” school board chairman Sandy Ellington-Graves said during the work session. “It gives us about two weeks prior to the evening meeting.”
Though school board member Dr. Charles Parker was absent from the work session, Ellington-Graves said she had spoken with him the night before and felt “he would be in agreement” about the process to be used in selecting someone for the vacant seat.
“The statute doesn’t say much about the process, except that it shall be filled,” school board attorney Adam Mitchell told the board Tuesday afternoon. “The board could decide right now to set a deadline, post the vacancy, and make it known to folks that are interested that they would have an opportunity to speak [at the next meeting on March 24].”
While state law didn’t require the board to vote in order to proceed with filling the vacancy, the attorney emphasized this week, as he had in the fall of 2023, that all discussions about the appointment must take place in an open session.
In the fall of 2023 – following many hours of discussion about whether to even appoint someone to replace Simpson through the scheduled expiration of her term (in November 2024) and hearing from dozens of speakers at their monthly meetings – school board members agreed to accept applications until October 9, 2023.
Even then, they weren’t unanimous about the selection process itself: some board members favored a much lengthier process that involved: posting a biographical sketch and written statement for each applicant on the ABSS website; having applicants submit recorded speeches; and post a survey on the ABSS to poll the public about their preferred candidates.
Ingle bucked that process, warning his fellow board members at the time, “Basically we are having a de facto election by the people who placed every one of us in office to make these decisions.”
ABSS will accept letters of interest for the vacant seat until 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 21; additional information can be found on the school system’s website.
