Schmid to resign from RO CSD Board

The Red Oak School Board met in special session on Dec. 11 to discuss an upcoming vacancy.
Superintendent Ron Lorenz advised the board the item before them was to approve the resignation of Aaron Schmid, effective at the end of the year.
“Aaron has announced his intent to resign from the board, effective Dec. 31, due to health reasons. I would recommend the board approve that resignation,” Lorenz said.
The board approved Schmid’s resignation as presented. Board President Bret Blackman complimented Schmid’s service.
“I want to express a word of thanks for Aaron for serving in the time that he has,” Blackman commented.
The board then moved to discussion and approval of the process for posting a vacancy, inviting applicants, interviewing candidates, and appointing replacements for open board seats.
“Board policy authorizes the board to fill a vacancy by appointment within 30 days of the vacancy occurring. I’m going to suggest that the board follow the same procedure it did in filling the vacant board seat last January and in previous years. The board will publish a notice in the Red Oak Express stating it intends to appoint a replacement to fill the seat, but the community has the right to file a petition requiring the vacancy be filled by special election, the same notice that we posted last January,” advised Lorenz.
Lorenz added the board would then direct Lorenz to post an article on the district homepage requesting prospective candidates submit a letter of interest to fill the vacant board seat.
“The letters will be submitted to the board secretary, Heidi Harris, by 4 p.m. on Jan. 2. The board would then invite all prospective candidates who submit their letter of interest in a timely manner to attend a special board meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 8, to discuss their interest in an open public forum. Just like we did last year, we would put them up in front, we’d ask them some questions, ask them to respond in a round robin manner,” Lorenz explained.
At the conclusion of that interview, Lorenz said the board would go into closed session to discuss and deliberate over the qualifications of each candidate.
“After that session, the board will come out of closed session and consider motions to fill the vacant seat. If no motion carries or a quorum is not present, a special election will be held to fill the vacant seat. Those are all steps that would be outlined in the article that we will post on the homepage,” stated Lorenz.
Blackman said he was in favor of the process as described by Lorenz to fill the open seat.
“I think the process worked well last time. We’re following state guidelines from an overall process standpoint, so I don’t personally have any concerns with that process. We’re bound by the timeframes and we’re bound by the state. January, this time of year is going be tough, but it’s what we have to do,” Blackman commented.
The members of the board stated they had no conflicts with a Jan. 8 special meeting. The board approved the process for filling the board vacancy outlined by Lorenz, and set the special meeting to interview the candidates at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 8.