Board of Education interviews candidates
Board members interviewed candidates that would fill the position left by the recall of Scott Hancock
October 7, 2015
The Board of Education interviewed candidates applying to fill the vacancy left by recalled Board member Scott Hancock at the regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, Oct. 5.
The candidates for the position, representing the boundaries position four which included K-10 highway, included Dave Anderson, Kevin Bogart, Don Clark, Jared Harmon-Moore, Danielle Heikes, Jeff Hopkins, Melissa Lehman, Heather Lucas, Jarrod McGinnis and Jason Schottler.
Each Board member asked the same question for the 10 candidates, who also were allowed an opening and closing statement. The candidates were randomly drawn and called up to answer the questions in under 10 minutes.
McGinnis was drawn first, and thus had the task of going first for the candidates.
“I just thought about my past experiences and how they might be applicable to the questions that were asked,” McGinnis said.
Schottler went last, but didn’t think it was necessary to prepare.
“I didn’t want to spend a lot of time preparing, or nursing, or studying up on things. I kind of look at myself as a little bit of an outsider, and didn’t really spend a whole lot of time preparing for it,” Schottler said.
Since the Board members will appoint the candidate into the vacant spot, patrons were encouraged to submit questions online. For McGinnis, it’s important to have these interviews in order to encourage public involvement in the appointment process.
“In lieu of being able to elect — that would be the ideal situation — I think having this open forum where everybody that’s interested has the same chance is probably the best method we could do,” McGinnis said.
The interviews are also important in building relationships between the Board members and the candidates, according to Schottler.
“In this situation, the Board has to appoint somebody … The Board has to find someone that’s going to fit well within that group because it’s going to be a team and you have to have somebody you feel comfortable can work within that team,” Schottler said. “It’s a good way to establish the relationships and the personalities and see if they fit together.
To Schottler, becoming a Board member is important for his children’s education.
“I want to contribute to my children’s education system,” Schottler said.
While McGinnis agrees, he also wants to continue the success that the school district has experienced.
“I want to contribute to the success. It’s critical for my family, it’s critical … as a property owner,” McGinnis said. “We came to De Soto because of the school. I think all those property owners need to know that the value of their homes are tied to a good school system, but it’s just critical to our society to have a really strong school system.”
The most important thing, Schottler said, is having a deserving person in the position.
“Actually, I think they are almost 10 very good, qualified candidates,” Schottler said. “The good news is that, no matter what the choice is, I think there is going to be a good person being put into this position.”
