Two Members Resign From School Board
Sep 30, 2021
During the August board meeting, the meeting which decided whether to extend mask mandates to the high school, both Tresa Boden and Shawn Carlisle walked out before the vote and then officially resigned from the board entirely. The board now has two empty seats to fill.
When asked about why the two members left the board, board president Rob Shippy said they weren’t given much information.
“Neither one of the board members gave a significant reason or statement as to why they resigned, they just sent formal emails saying they were effectively resigning their position at this time,” Shippy said. “They didn’t go into detail. I could speculate but I don’t wanna speak on their behalf.”
Although reasons were not given, some speculated that it involved the mask mandates. Earlier in the board meeting before the vote, both Carlisle and Boden both expressed they were against expanding the mask guidelines to all grades.
When asked more about it, Shippy said this.
“There’s been a lot of extra stress on board members that, quite honestly, I don’t think anybody ever when seeking election for a school board or choosing to serve thought they’d ever be experiencing this kind of decision,” Shippy said. “I think it’s put a tax on a lot of them and I think that’s why you’ve seen some of the board members resign the position. It’s an unpaid position. In addition to that, it’s volunteer.”
With two board members gone, the board had to determine how it should move forward. As discussed in the meeting, only one of the position was up for reelection this fall. The other still had time to fill. The board sought advice from the Kansas Association of School Boards (KASB).
“We vote on board president in July at our organizational meeting. I had served as president in the past and I was vice president the last few years. Shawn Carlisle’s term was expiring and it wouldn’t have made any sense to place him in the chair position again. So that actually occurred in July,” Shippy said. He later elaborated that Carlisle already knew he wouldn’t be running for re-election so there was no point in keeping him there and he planned to move out of the position quickly anyway.
The board discussed the possibility of filling Boden’s position but allowing Carlisle’s to remain empty until the public could vote on a new member at the next election in November. All board seats up for grabs have more than one candidate running.
“Making sure we’re getting everything back on track from everything we lost last year with remote learning – that’s not only a priority for the board but the staff,” Shippy said. “Keeping the kids in the classroom and keeping people healthy is the goal.”