The trustees of the Aromas-San Juan Unified School District voted last week to fill a vacant board position through an application and interview process instead of a special election.
Trustee Jose Flores resigned for “personal reasons” last week, leaving an opening for the remaining two years of his four-year term.
“It’s not a bad reflection of the district or anything. It’s just that his spouse has not been able to get a promotion because that would be a conflict of interest,” said Board President Jennifer Colby. “It’s not a guarantee that she would get that position but he would want her to have the opportunity to apply.”
Flores’ position as a trustee had been preventing his wife, Maria, from applying for a lead teacher position that opened at the district’s Tom Connolly “Mi Escuelita” Preschool mid-year. Applications for the vacant trustee position are due to the district office by 4:30 p.m. Jan. 8 with public interviews with the board following on Jan. 14.
The district has 60 days from when they notified the San Benito County Office of Education of the resignation to secure a trustee either by special election or an application and interview process. Holding a special election could cost the district between $6,000 and $7,000, said Superintendent Ruben Zepeda.
“It was a family decision. My heart was with that community,” Flores said. “We made a joint decision that we wanted that stability at the preschool.”
In small communities, such as the Aromas and San Juan Bautista areas, there have been previous occasions when trustees were married to people working in the school district, Colby said.
“You can have a spouse working in the district apparently, but ever since he came on the board she’s been unable to take a promotion because that would be a conflict of interest,” Colby said.
The superintendent and board president received a letter announcing Flores’ resignation just before Thanksgiving.
“He basically said he resigned but he thanked the school district employees and the board and the community for their support and didn’t really go into any specific reasons,” Zepeda said.
Even before the topic went to the board for a vote, Colby was advocating for an application and interview selection process instead ofa special election.
“We could ask for a special election but, of course, that costs money and it’s perfectly appropriate to have a process where the people apply,” Colby said. “In fact, I think it’s more rigorous than an election.”
For more information on the board position, call the district office at (831) 623-4500.
