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Any interested applicants for the open Clark County Public School Board of Education seat for District 2 have until next Wednesday, Aug. 17th, to apply.

Applications are available at the board of education office or online at www.clarkschools.net.

The completed form must be mailed and postmarked by the 17th to the following address: Clark County Board of Education, 1600 W. Lexington Ave., Winchester, KY 40391.

Board members must be at least 24 years old, have been a Kentucky resident for three years, live in the district they wish to represent, and have completed the 12th grade or obtained a GED certificate.

In addition to those requirements, a board member cannot hold any other public office, have been previously removed from a school board, have a relative employed by the school district, or be a vendor of supplies or services.

Whoever is chosen will replace Brenda Considine, who resigned effective July 14th. The term will expire on Dec. 31st, 2024

Per Kentucky law, the board has 60 days from the date it accepted Considine’s resignation – Oct. 2nd – to fill the seat from the pool of applicants with a majority vote. If it cannot, then Kentucky Education Commissioner Jason Glass has 60 days to make an appointment from Oct. 2nd to make an appointment.

The board’s advertisement, which first ran in the Sun on Aug. 5th, states that the appointment will be until the next scheduled election in Nov. 2024.

The seat was previously scheduled to be on the ballot in this November’s election, as previously reported by the Sun after the school district sent a communication to the Kentucky Secretary of State’s office and the Clark County Clerk stating there would be a vacant as July 26th.

The school district contended that the communication was sent in error and argued through its legal counsel that since the resignation was accepted after Aug. 1st, there was no need for it to be on the ballot.

KRS 160.190 states that a vacant school board seat election must happen at the next scheduled election. However, several Kentucky Attorney General opinions argue that a resignation accepted after Aug. 1st does not have to be on the ballot that same year.

After a back-and-forth discussion, Clark County Clerk Michelle Turner asked the sectary of state for guidance. That office referred the matter to Clark County Attorney William Elkins, who stated he believed that the school board would fill the seat without an election.

Several attorney general opinions make the case that an appointment to a school board is only good for one year and that if an election cannot be held the year the appointment is made, that one should happen the next year.