Trustee Pickett will vacate her seat on the Governing Board effective June 30, 2020. At the June 4, 2020 Board meeting, the Board of Education elected to fill the upcoming vacant position via an appointment process.
Since Trustee Pickett was elected at-large, her successor must be appointed in the same at-large manner.
The Board can provisionally appoint a person to fill the seat, but must do so within 60 days of the vacancy (i.e., by August 29, 2020). The Education Code does not dictate a process to be followed in making a provisional appointment. Other than satisfying the age, citizenship and residency requirements established in the Education Code, a governing board is free to provide the method of selection it chooses so long as it does not violate the Brown Act. It is typical for a board-developed process to include applications and interviews of applicants. If applications are received and interviews conducted, the Board must conduct such interviews in open session under the Brown Act. Government Code Section 54957(b)(1) provides, in pertinent part: Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to prevent the legislative body of a local agency from holding closed sessions . . . to consider the appointment . . . of a public employee . . . . For the purposes of this subdivision, the term “employee” . . . shall not include any elected official, member of a legislative body or other independent contractor to office, or appointed to an office by the legislative body. Accordingly, if a majority of the Board holds any discussion of the applicants’ qualifications, the discussion must be held in open session. [59 Ops.Atty.Gen. 266 (1976)]. Within ten days of making the provisional appointment, the Board must post notices of the vacancy or filing of a deferred resignation, and also of the appointment. (Education Code section 5092) These notices must be posted in three public places in the District and published in a newspaper of general circulation in the District. The notice must state that a vacancy or resignation exists, the date of the vacancy or filing of the resignation, the full name of the provisional appointee and the date of his or her appointment, and a statement that unless a petition calling for a special election, containing a sufficient number of signatures, is filed in the office of the county superintendent of schools within 30 days of the date of the provisional appointment, the appointment will become effective. Any appointee to the Board must meet the same qualifications as a person elected to serve on the Board, such as residency. An appointed Board member has the same powers, rights, and duties as an elected Board member. (Education section 5091(d)). Any additional materials will be provided closer to the start of the meeting.
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