Canyon ISD board accepting applications for Place 4 seat

Michael Cuviello, Amarillo Globe-News
·2 min read

During its March 18 meeting, the Canyon Independent School Board unanimously approved going to an appointment process to fill its Place 4 Trustee position vacated by Bill Jenkins at the December meeting.

Following Jenkins's resignation, the school board was pressed to find a way to fill the position. Due to the financial and legal constraints of holding an off-year election, they were unable to place it on the recent primary ballots. Canyon ISD could have held its own election, but it would have been rather costly since it would have to do it on its own.

Bill Jenkins, then president of Canyon ISD Board of Trustees, reads a resolution in May 2023 in Canyon. Jenkins resigned in December.
Bill Jenkins, then president of Canyon ISD Board of Trustees, reads a resolution in May 2023 in Canyon. Jenkins resigned in December.

For the second time in a year, the board will select an interim appointment from applications submitted. In October of last year, Mandi Palmer was chosen from among 10 candidates to fill the Place 1 vacancy due to the untimely death of board member Paul Blake.

Some community members have pressed the board to hold an election to fill the spot, and they see the appointment process as a way of circumventing the will of the community, even though this has been a long-used method for filling positions vacated early. If an election had been held, the term would be up next year.

Applications for the interim position will be accepted up until 4:30 p.m. Friday, April 5. The position must be filled by June 8.

Jennie Winegarner, Canyon ISD board president addresses the audience in December 2023 with fellow board members Casey Posey and Laurie Gilliland at the Happy Bank Conference Center in Canyon.
Jennie Winegarner, Canyon ISD board president addresses the audience in December 2023 with fellow board members Casey Posey and Laurie Gilliland at the Happy Bank Conference Center in Canyon.

Board President Jennie Winegarner spoke about the board's decision.

"Tonight, we went ahead and proceeded with our authority to appoint to fill this vacancy. Due to the way the election calendar shook out and election law, it was not possible for us to fill the position this year," Winegarner said. "We are going to fill this seat to comply with our legally obligated deadline in June. We are going to employ an appointment process that will include an application and interview for all candidates."

Winegarner said that the May meeting will fill the position after a thorough process to find the best available candidate. She hopes that this process will find a board member who can bring a unique skill set to the board.

"At our last two meetings, we postponed action on this, because we were waiting to see if there was any possibility of having a May election," Winegarner said. "While it would have been a tight time frame, we were committed to pursuing that option. We were hopeful it would have worked out, but factors beyond our control precluded that election option, so we will use this method to fill the vacancy. We take this process seriously to put the best members on the board. I hope we will seat an outstanding board member like we have done previously."

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Canyon ISD to select interim board member to fill Jenkins's seat