At the Thursday meeting, board member Steve Shelby nominated fellow board member Kelly Walker to serve as chair, while Vice Chairman Melanie Burkeen nominated Chris Taylor to continue serving as chair.
After voting commenced, Shelby and Walker voted to have Walker serve as chair, while Taylor and Burkeen voted to allow Taylor to remain chair. Three votes are required to elect a chairman, so voting was left in a deadlock due to board member Tiffany Watson not being present at the meeting.
There was no previous policy in place for a situation like this, and with the board stuck in a deadlock, School Board attorney Gorman "Butch" Bradley, Jr. recommended amending board policy 01.41, which states the following:
"At the first meeting in January the board shall elect a chairperson and vice chairperson, then the chairperson and vice chairperson shall serve one year terms beginning at the meeting following their election."
Under Bradley's recommendation, the policy would be amended to the following:
"At the first meeting in January the board shall elect a chairperson and vice chairperson. If the board is not able to elect a chairperson and vice chairperson, the current chairperson and vice chairperson shall continue to serve until the next regular meeting of which a chairperson or vice chairperson is elected. The terms of the chairperson or vice chairperson will begin immediately following their election and will continue until the first meeting in January following the election."
The board adopted the revision, and approved it unanimously.
West Kentucky Star spoke with Shelby about why he chose to nominate Walker.
"She has the most applicable education and experience on the board. Not to take anything away from anyone else that has an expertise in their field, but Kelly Walker's is a 34 year field of education. She's a graduate of Baylor University with honors, and a 4.0 in communication's with a Master's from Murray State University. It's hard to argue with that." Shelby continued, "I feel that the people in my district voted for me to make the best decision for children, teachers, and taxpayers. That's why I nominated Kelly Walker."
When asked about his thoughts on the postponed nominations, Taylor didn't offer an opinion, but deferred to Bradley, who said in order to go forward and do their business, the policy had to be amended.
"This is a weakness in the policy we weren't aware of until it came up this time. So we just revised the policy, and in the future this situation won't arise." Bradley continued, "This allows the board to continue their business. Pay the bills, you've got to do that."
The next School Board meeting is scheduled for February 27 at 5:30 pm.
