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The Clark County Public School Board of Education has formally requested that the Kentucky Commissioner of Education appoint its newest member.

During a special-called meeting on Friday, the board unanimously voted to waive its time period to appoint a new member. It authorized the state’s highest ranking education officer, Commissioner Jason Glass, to make the appointment.

The seat from District 2 – previously held by Brenda Considine – has been vacant since the board accepted her resignation on August 2nd. Considine resigned effective July 14th with little explanation.

Per Kentucky law, the board had 60 days from the time it accepted Considine’s resignation to vote to appoint her successor from a pool of applicants.

Interim Superintendent Elmer Thomas said in a previous interview with the Sun that the board received nine applications and considered interviewing everyone before it decided to get the state involved.

Glass now has 60 days to make the appointment.

An election to fill the seat was previously scheduled for November when the school district communicated to the Kentucky Secretary of State’s office and the Clark County Clerk – Michelle Turner – that it would be vacant as of July 26th.

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

Kentucky law states that a vacant school board seat must be decided in the next scheduled election. However, several legal opinions from the Kentucky Attorney General’s office argue that if a resignation occurs after August 1st, there is too little time to hold an election. Other opinions state that if an election is not held the year the resignation takes place, one should be held the following year.

Turner consulted with the secretary of state’s office on how to proceed and was directed to seek the counsel of the county attorney.

Clark County Attorney William Elkins said he thought that the board could make the appointment without an election.

Superintendent Search

During the meeting, the board heard an update from the Kentucky School Board Association (KSBA) on the application process for the district’s next superintendent.

The board voted in July to hire the KSBA to help it facilitate the search for Dr. Molly McComas’ successor.

McComas and the board announced a surprise mutual parting in late June.

According to the KSBA, there are seven completed applications for the job and two incomplete ones. Six are from Kentucky, and one is from out of state. All seven applicants are male.

The board then tasked the search committee to bring two names to it for further consideration.

The committee will meet over the next week and bring the names to the board at a meeting scheduled for September 12th at 6:30 p.m.