The day after election results became official Dec. 6, newly-elected Scotts Valley city councilmember Jack Dilles resigned his trustee seat with the Santa Cruz County Board of Education, a position he had held since 2006.
Now, led by county school Superintendent Michael Watkins, the remaining five trustees will begin the search for a person from Area 1 (Scotts Valley and the San Lorenzo Valley north of Felton) to serve as provisional trustee until 2018.
Any resident in Area 1 can apply for the position. The principal quality for the now-vacant seat is, “To be local and committed to public education,” Watkins said.
Within 60 days of Dilles’ resignation, the county board has two options to fill the empty seat. It can hold a special election or advertise for and select a new trustee during a scheduled special meeting.
A quorum (four trustees) must be present at that meeting.
Watkins said the board will quickly set a timeline for the process, which begins with advertisements in local media.
“Last time this happened we got four or five qualified candidates,” said Watkins, referring to the appointment of trustee Bruce Van Allen in 2015.
At that time, redistricting moved Dilles from Area 2 (mostly Santa Cruz) to Area 1, and created a vacancy because one of the trustees resigned.
A map of the county school board trustee areas can be found at here.
