Five candidates stepped forward to fill a board vacancy for Richmond Community Schools.
The board met Oct. 30 in executive session to review the applicants to fill the seat formerly held by Peter Zaleski. The board members reviewed the applicants and chose three to interview.
Western Wayne News asked Nov. 1 for the names of the finalists, but was told a list would be available after the interviews.
When considering the appointment of a public official, state law allows school boards to meet in executive session to develop a list of prospective appointees, consider applications and make one initial exclusion of prospective appointees from further consideration.
The public is invited to watch the finalists be interviewed during a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 6, in the administration building, 300 Hub Etchison Parkway.
After the interviews and an executive session to discuss the applicants, the board expects to conduct a work session at approximately 7 p.m. the same day to discuss the district’s facilities philosophy. During previous work sessions on that topic, board members have learned about potential renovation options and costs for several of the district’s schools and have selected priorities.
Board members then plan to conduct an oath of office ceremony to swear in the new member they’ve selected at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7.
The new member will begin serving immediately and continue through December 2026.
Zaleski announced Oct. 7 he was immediately resigning from the board. Although not tying his resignation to a specific concern, Zaleski noted “irreconcilable differences” in the fundamentals of transparency, communication, building relationships and working toward the best academic experience for all local youth that he had campaigned on.
Zaleski’s resignation came shortly after members of Richmond High School’s volleyball team alleged Title IX violations regarding practice schedules and the team’s coach was placed on administrative leave.
In addition, RCS’ Oct. 30 meeting agenda noted the board would discuss a job performance evaluation of individual employees during the executive session.
The board can’t discuss salary, compensation, or benefits during a budget process in an executive session.
Because RCS will be closed for its Thanksgiving break on Wednesday, Nov. 27, when it normally would have a board meeting, district officials will conduct just one business meeting in November. It will begin at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13, which is earlier than usual to avoid conflicting with a regional school officials meeting.
A version of this article appeared in the November 6 2024 print edition of the Western Wayne News.