by Garrick Moritz, Gazette

            The Garretson School Board met on July 15, and the newest school board members took their oaths. There was both surprise and split votes as new board member Natasha Mendoza replaced Shannon Nordstrom as board president.

            The meeting began with a little contention, with board member Tana Clark wanted to add a last-minute item to the agenda. She wanted to talk about the senior class banners and decisions about them that she felt had been arbitrarily made. Board President Nordstrom felt it was too late to add the item to the posted agenda, as it was too last-minute to have been vetted for proper processing of business items or public awareness, but he reluctantly agreed to put it on the agenda for the board to discuss.

            The board approved the consent agenda including minutes, financial statements and fuel quotes.

            The only item of old business for the board was to thank Andy Hulscher and Jodi Gloe for their service as board members. Nordstrom had already told all assembled at the beginning of the meeting the Gloe would not be present for her last meeting because her husband was in poor health, but he thanked her in absentia and he likewise thanked Hulscher and presented him with a plaque for his service to the district.

            “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve,” said Hulscher. “My primary job was that I wanted to leave the place better than I found it, so I hope that was the case. I appreciated each one of you and the discussions we had, and how we always were able to meet somewhere in the middle. I learned a lot about the process and found it rewarding.”

            The old meeting adjourned and the first meeting of the 24-25 board started their tenure with Business Manager Jacob Schweitzer swearing in Justin VanDeBerg and Natasha Mendoza.

            Superintendent Guy Johnson began the new meeting by starting the election of officers. He called for nominations for board chair and Clark nominated Mendoza. Board member Wyatt Compton nominated Nordstrom. Supt. Johnson made ready a paper ballot vote, distributing paper to each board member. Business Manager Schweitzer gathered, read and announced the tallies. He declared Mendoza the winner at a vote of three to two. Though who voted for who was not explicitly stated, it was clear from body language and facial expressions around the table that Compton and Nordstrom had voted for Nordstrom, and Clark, Mendoza and VanDeBerg had voted for Mendoza. Though he might have been caught off guard by the vote and the result, Nordstrom took it with good grace and was the first to congratulate Mendoza on her victory and position as the new board president.

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            Shortly thereafter, they adjourned. The next regular meeting of the Garretson School Board will be held on Monday, August 12 at 6:00 p.m. in the school library. All members of the public are invited to attend.