Monday’s USD 257 Board of Education meeting was a conclave of fond farewells.
After serving the district for 16 years, board member Buck Quincy resigned his seat effective June 30, and Superintendent of Schools Jack Koehn, who announced his retirement in January, took a few minutes on Monday to bid his final goodbye.
Quincy’s association with the Iola school district — as a teacher, a coach, then as a board member — reaches back nearly 60 years. “Buck, you’ve given years to this district,” observed Koehn, “even more than I know. It’s been an honor to serve with you.”
“Better watch out now,” joked Quincy, “or your nose might start growing.”
Quincy’s announcement, however, coming as it did after the electoral filing deadline, evoked a procedural quandary that necessitated a call to the Kansas Association of School Boards.
Because no candidate has filed for Quincy’s Position 5 seat, said Koehn — though rumors of at least one potential write-in candidate are circulating — the KASB has suggested that the board wait to fill any vacancies until after the Nov. 7 election. (Board member Darrell Catron’s months-long absence has created a similarly premature vacancy — although there are currently two LaHarpe residents vying for his Position 6 seat. Koehn said he has not been able to get in touch with Catron in recent days.)
There is a protocol, however, which, if followed, would allow whomever is elected to the board in one of the districts saddled with a current vacancy to take their place on the board immediately following their election in the fall — rather than wait, as normal procedure dictates, until the first meeting in January.
According to Koehn, it looks like this, in a nutshell: At the final meeting in October, the BOE would instruct the board clerk to put a notice in the local newspaper alerting the public to the current vacancies. Those residents running for the relevant seats would then need to apply to the board of education at that time. If the eventual electoral victor has failed to apply to the board in advance, he or she will still take their seat on the BOE — but not until January. However, if the victor has previously applied to the board, he or she will assume their duties at the board’s first November meeting.
The board of education will continue to discuss the wisdom of this option in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, on Monday, members continued to heap their thanks on the outgoing Quincy. “It’s been an enjoyable journey,” reflected Quincy, “but you guys need young blood. There’s no sense in me sitting around taking up space when you could have someone who will be as enthusiastic and interested as some of our new, young board members have been.”
KOEHN, too, was full of gratitude for the board, for the district, for teachers and staff, for students, and for the communities that made his four years as superintendent what they were. “It has been a tremendous honor to serve with this board of education. If I could give one last piece of advice?” said Koehn. “Continue to focus on what’s best for students. We live in a world and in a community in which you can sometimes get distracted and you can start looking for what’s best for adults. But you’re the best advocates that we have for students. Continue to be that advocate.”
Board president Tony Leavitt (also outgoing) highlighted the menu of achievements Koehn had either spearheaded or facilitated during his short tenure: grade-level attendance centers, food service improvements, increased tech spending, teacher raises, the founding of the Regional Rural Tech Center and more.
The just-fêted Quincy then added his assessment. “You came along at a time when we were in desperate need for leadership and, boy, we got it. Thank you. I hope the kids and parents in Iola realize what they are losing.”
IN OTHER NEWS, the board:
— Approved a $38,000 bid from Zones for the purchase of 126 new Chromebooks.
— Hired Darci Lisher as Lincoln Elementary fourth-grade teacher and accepted the resignation of high school bookkeeper Rebekah Daugherty.