Background Mrs. Ellen Multari was elected to the LCUSD Governing Board in November 2011 and reelected in November 2015. Mrs. Multari moved out of the LCUSD residency boundaries and resigned her Governing Board member seat effective May 31, 2020, resulting in an unscheduled vacancy on the LCUSD Board of Education. At its May 19, 2020 meeting, the Governing Board determined that it would appoint a candidate in order to fill the vacancy. The Governing Board conducted interviews for the vacant seat on June 16 and June 17, 2020, and engaged in deliberations following the interviews. At the conclusion of deliberations, it was moved, seconded, and approved 3:1 not to appoint any candidate to the position. Following that, at its meeting on June 30, 2020, staff cited that under Education Code section 5091(a) (1), the Board must, within 60 days of a Board vacancy, either order an election or make a provisional appointment to fill the vacancy, recommending that the Governing Board take action to order an election, realizing that the implications of said action are that the vacancy will be filled at the general election in November of 2020. Again, the Governing Board engaged in deliberations, took public comment, and sought to clarify any miscommunications with stakeholders. Upon conclusion of the discussion, the Governing Board voted 3:1 to take action to fill the unanticipated vacancy through a provisional appointment. Current Considerations Applicants were notified and asked to contact the Superintendent by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, July 6, regarding whether or not they remained interested in being considered as an applicant in the provisional appointment process. Interested applicants were asked to make a brief incremental statement to the Board regarding their application at the July 8, 2020 special meeting. Applicants may make the 3-minute statement live via Zoom, via a recorded message to be played at the meeting, or via a written statement to be read at the meeting. The applicant statements will constitute the opening component of the appointment procedure. Following the statements, the Voting Process shall commence. The LCUSD Governing Board shall conduct a ballot vote for the appointment of the individual to fill the vacant seat on the Board of Education. The ballot vote process shall be conducted as follows: Following the applicants’ incremental statements, the Governing Board will engage in discussion regarding the attributes they are looking for in a provisional Governing Board member. Each Governing Board member will receive a ballot listing the names of all applicants for the position. Prior to the vote, the Governing Board President shall publicly announce the position vacancy and all applicant names that are listed on the ballot. (Ballot document is an attachment to this agenda item.) Each Governing Board member shall electronically vote for their preferred candidate. Write-in candidates are not permissible. The Superintendent shall receive electronic ballots and shall publicly announce the name of each Governing Board Member and announce the name that the Governing Board Member cast as his/her respective vote. The applicant who receives a majority number of votes shall be deemed appointed to the role. In the event of a tie or failure to secure a majority consensus, a run-off ballot shall be conducted of only the applicants receiving the highest number of votes from the previous round. This shall continue until a majority consensus on an applicant is reached. In the event of an unbreakable tie, the Governing Board may determine an alternative method for selecting the appointee.
Financial Implication There are no District financial implications associated with this agenda item.
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