The Hollister School District accepted the resignation of their Board President Ben Flores on Tuesday because the trustee had to move to a home outside the district’s boundaries.
Since Flores’ term ends in December 2016, the board may fill it by calling a special election—generally considered the expensive option because the district must fund the costs—or by making a provisional appointment, Superintendent Gary McIntire explained. Trustee Elsa Rodriguez was absent from the Tuesday board meeting where it came up.
“I regretfully did this,” Flores told the board, later adding that he had moved outside district lines to San Juan Bautista. “I had no other choice but to get up and go.”
Board bylaws require trustees to be living within the district to serve, McIntire explained.
“In all sincerity, President Flores has served our district very well,” McIntire said, citing the trustee’s passion for education. “This is not on any terms that President Flores I think would have chosen. This is an issue of residency.”
Flores said he was open to coming back to the district in the future if he can find housing in Hollister, he said.
“This isn’t the last you’ve seen of me,” he said. “I will be back in a bigger sense in that I’ll be able to just come back and help out.”
The board will determine how it wishes to fill the opening at a special meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Sept. 8 at the district office located at 2690 Cienega Road in Hollister.
If it chooses to make a provisional appointment, it will need to post this publicly and call for letters of interest to serve on the board, McIntire explained.
Then, in public session the board will interview all qualifying candidates, who must be at least 18 years old; registered voters; living within the district boundaries; and not disqualified from serving for such reasons as being convicted of a felony, the superintendent explained.
