The North Judson-San Pierre School Board is expected to announce tonight whether they favor a transition to an elected school board or would prefer to keep the current appointed process. Members have spent the past several weeks gathering public input on the topic via Google survey and a special meeting last week for that sole purpose. Most of the comments offered during that session favored an *elected board.
If the board agrees to the transition, they will have a say in how the process would work. Questions include how many members would serve, the composition of districts to ensure equal representation, the length of terms and whether or not there would be limits and when elections would occur.
Should the board decide to remain appointed, Matt Bailey has indicated he will proceed with the necessary petition to bring the question to voters via referendum. Before he can gather signatures, he needs to have a plan to present.
Tonight’s N.J.-S.P. School Board meeting will take place at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium. Other items on tonight’s agenda include approval of board policies on second reading, a request from FFA to attend the national convention in Indianapolis, approval of a Lady Jays camp and of a Starke County Youth Club memorandum of understanding.
*a typographical error in a previous version of this story read appointed rather than elected. WKVI News apologizes for any confusion this may have caused. During last week’s meeting, seven of the 10 speakers favored an elected board, one favored the appointed process and two did not state a position.
