Jackson morale, academic achievement improving

The Morgan Hill Unified School Board of Trustees will discuss at
6 p.m. today what to do about the vacant seat on the board after
former-Trustee Julia Hover-Smoot shocked herself, her opponent and
the community when she won the race to join the Santa Clara County
Board of Education.
The Morgan Hill Unified School Board of Trustees will discuss at 6 p.m. today what to do about the vacant seat on the board after former-Trustee Julia Hover-Smoot shocked herself, her opponent and the community when she won the race to join the Santa Clara County Board of Education.

Hover-Smoot bowed out of the November election in September and gave support to Adam Escoto, a Morgan Hill resident and retired Assistant Superintendent from Ravenswood City School District in East Palo Alto, but the voters set Escoto back on his heels when the election ended with Hover-Smoot as the victor. She accepted the position and resigned from the MHUSD school board Nov. 30. She was elected in 2008.

Tonight, after four trustees are sworn-in – incumbents Shelle Thomas and Don Moody, and newcomers Claudia Rossi and Ron Woolf – joining Peter Mandel and Kathy Sullivan, they will discuss the best way to fill the seventh seat.

The board has 60 days from the resignation of Hover-Smoot or until Jan. 29 to order an election or appoint someone to the position, according to the California Education Code. The position is a two-year term until the next rotation of MHUSD school board elections in 2012.

It’s likely the board will choose to appoint a seventh board member, either opening the position to the public or by a board decision that could mean selecting the next highest vote-getter (former board president Bart Smith came in fifth in the Nov. 3 election). Holding an election is costly and the estimated bill of $40,000 to $60,000 would be the school district’s responsibility, which is already facing another year of budget deficits.

If the board appoints a trustee – known as a provisional appointment – registered voters can petition for a special election within 30 days of the appointment date, which would be in mid-July. In recent history, a special election occurred only once, in 1993 when the appointed member also won the petitioned special election.

The board meeting begins at 6 p.m. with the swearing-in ceremony by Mayor Steve Tate at the school boardroom, 15600 Concord Circle in Morgan Hill.

A history of filling vacancies

January 1993

Jan Basset resigned; 20 applied; two rounds of interviews; Ken Buback was appointed; appointment challenged by special election in which Buback won.

January 1997

Hedy Chang resigned; eight applied; one round of 20-minute interviews; John Kennet appointed.

October 2001

Susan Martimo Choi resigned; five applicants; 20-minute interviews for each; tie for first place so board reconvened to interview final two candidates; Russ Danielson appointed.

March 2004

Tom Kinoshita resigned; position included on Nov. 2, 2004 ballot yet no one applied for the ballot; after 13 people applied, 20-minute interviews for each; Don Moody appointed and re-elected in 2006

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