Jyl DeJong was appointed on Monday night to fill a Knoxville School Board vacancy in a special session.

At the meeting, DeJong, Dennis Goad, and Jodi Bellon were all interested candidates who were interviewed by the board to fill the vacancy after the resignation of former board member Dave Smith. There was then a motion to appoint DeJong to the vacant seat which passed in a 2-1 split vote with Dylan Mick and Monica Sullivan voting yes and Brian Slykhuis voting no. DeJong was given the oath of office and will fill in on the board until a special election is held in March that will also include a levy questions well. DeJong would then have the opportunity to run in the special election which would fill the remainder of Smith’s term through 2027.

Also at the meeting the board heard the first reading of a revised school policy regarding electronic devices. The board will meet in their first regular session of 2025 on January 13th.