The process to fill a Knoxville School Board vacancy is officially underway.

At Monday’s Knoxville School Board meeting the board approved the resignation of school board member Susan Swartzendruber, which started the process of filling that vacancy. Pursuant to Iowa Code 279.6, the school board will publish notice of intent to fill the vacancy on Friday. The notice states that eligible electors of the Knoxville Community School District have the right to file a petition requiring that this vacancy be filled by special election.  Petitions must be received by the board secretary within 14 days after the publication of the notice. The current board may also appoint someone to fill the vacancy, and their timeline started on Tuesday. Those interested in being considered for appointment can contact Board Secretary Craig Mobley. The person appointed to fill the vacancy or whoever would win a special election will hold the office for the remainder of the term. A concern addressed at Monday’s meeting was that a special election would cost the district thousands of dollars, and Marion County Auditor Jake Grandia confirms that a special election could even cost as much as $15,000 due to the number of voting locations and ballot styles. Business Manager Craig Mobley says the current board may yet appoint someone to fill the vacancy. 

“They can decide how they want to make the appointment for that position, and then we will see if the public comes in with a successful petition then we will begin plans to have a special election for that board position. If for some reason the four remaining board members fail to make an appointment for that vacancy within the 30 days, then I as Board Secretary will call a special election.”

Hear more from Mobley about the process of filling the vacancy on today’s Let’s Talk Knoxville.