Southside district sets meeting to weigh options for open seat

Southside School District trustees accepted the resignation of Board President Scott Gilbert this week and will hold a special meeting Monday to determine the process for filling the seat.
Gilbert told the Free Lance on Tuesday he no longer lives in the district, prompting the resignation.
Trustees accepted Gilbert’s resignation at their regularly scheduled board meeting Wednesday. They will discuss whether to fill the spot by board appointment or special election during a special board meeting at 4 p.m. Monday at Southside School, 4991 Southside Road in Hollister.
The meeting has only one agenda item, to discuss the plan to fill the new vacancy and to ask for input from the audience before voting, Superintendent Eric Johnson explained by email.
According to state education code, if a resignation occurs, the school district has 60 days from when it shares this news with the county superintendent of schools to call a special election or make a provisional appointment.
Gilbert’s position was scheduled to go up for re-election in 2018, according to information on the San Benito County Office of Education’s website.
The public would be notified of his vacant spot in the Free Lance, Facebook, the district website, the bulletin board out front, and a letter that would go home to every parent who is a resident in the district, the superintendent told trustees.
“That’s five different ways,” he said.
The board president’s resignation comes about three months after Trustee Susana Frasher stepped down. The district took 61 days to fill that position, which lead Krystal Lomanto, the county superintendent of schools, to declare the board’s appointment ineffective. It means the seat must remain open until the November election.
The handling of that vacancy caused one legal expert to question the process, as laid out in the minutes. Those minutes showed a candidate sworn in during the Feb. 3 board meeting, but minutes from meetings in January and February showed no votes where trustees decided how to fill the position or whether to accept the single candidate, Jeanne Liem, who came forward.
“I don’t see how they could reach a consensus, without having a discussion and then taking a vote,” said Nikki Moore, legal counsel with the California Newspaper Publishers Association. “That’s how these boards take action.”
The special meeting next week will be announced on the school display board, the website, Facebook and on an information bulletin board, the superintendent explained by email.