The Moniteau County R-1 School District Board of Education accepted the resignation of Vice President Joe Kirby, effective Jan. 8, at its special meeting Monday.
Kirby had to leave his position because he moved and no longer lives in the district, thus being unable to serve as a member of the board. The board unanimously accepted his resignation and voted to appoint board member Derek VanLoo as the new vice president.
The board also discussed whether the now vacant board position should be filled. With Kirby's term already set to expire in April with the upcoming election, there would soon be an opening anyway. However, the board could vote to open it up for the general public to apply and fill the vacancy temporarily if it so wished.
Superintendent Dwight Sanders said one good argument for opening it up for filling the position temporarily would be the board is currently in its hiring cycle, and it does help to have a seven-member board during that process. However, the flip side is bringing in someone in such a manner, especially if multiple candidates have filed for the election, could make it seem like the board is trying to influence the outcome of the upcoming election in some fashion.
"I'm definitely for just leaving it open for the next few months, and it's not a long period of time so I would make the recommendation," Sanders said.
With that discussion in mind, the board ultimately decided to leave the position vacant until the April election takes place and the position is filled. Sanders said for its hiring process, the amount of votes required for approval would remain the same at a majority, or four out of six members.
"I would only close by saying that we wish Joe the best," President Philip Burger said as the meeting drew to a close. "He's served well in this capacity."
The board also discussed a Sunshine Law request from The Architects Alliance concerning various documentation from the board's open meetings and recent work with architecture firms. The board reported it is fully complying with the request.
The Board of Education's next regular meeting will be at 6 p.m. Jan. 23 in the California High School library's media room.