District One hopefuls to be identified

As the office of Oconee Superintendent of Education continues to accept applications from residents of District One to be considered for the vacant trustee seat, the district office has cleared up a question posed to its legal counsel.  Once finalists for the seat are determined, the district will release the names of the finalists.  Transparency will also apply to everyone who files an application, meaning the names of all applicants will also be released.  The deadline to apply for the two years remaining in the seat of the late Jerry Lee is noon Monday.  Names of those who meet that deadline are to be made known during Monday night’s meeting of the school board.  According to vice chairman Joe Rukat, the plan is for the board to then go into executive session to select applicants for interviews. Those interviews are to be conducted privately during the October 19 meeting and a choice is to follow and to be announced.   School officials have said their existing policy provides that in the event of a trustee vacancy, the board may appoint a resident from the district in which the vacancy occurred to fill the vacancy until the next election.  Rukat says he considers it important to make the appointment by November 4, the day after this year’s General Election and the start of the final two years of Lee’s term.