Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Replacement sought for Gurdon School Board

Zone 13's School Board position was recently left vacant when Cheryl Reed moved out of the zone.

School board members were told to talk with registered voters in the area to find a possible replacement.

Members reported talking to Velvet Gonzales who declined the offer, but found Mark Smithpeters to be interested.

Smithpeters was appointed by the board at Tuesday night's meeting.

At the December meeting, the Personnel Policy Committee (PPC) proposed the board appoint a committee to assist principals in making recommendations to hire new employees.

"I don't have a problem with appointing a committee. I think they are doing OK without one. It doesn't really matter to me, it isn't mandated that we do this," said Superintendent Bobby Smithson.

None of the principals from any of the three schools were present at the meeting. David Williams and Brad Clark both suggested the board wait until the next meeting so the board could see how the principals felt about the proposed committee.

The board approved bids for renovating the vocational building. The project is estimated to cost around $25,000.

It's part of your job and position," said Smithson to the board about filing a statement of financial interest with the state.

All school board members must file a State of Financial Interest in the County Clerk's office by January 31, 2004.

After explaining to board members about the State of Financial Interests Smithson added the Central Office would be glad to help them with any questions.

Smithson then moved on to getting the board's permission to sell surplus equipment. The items include: two = ton pick-up trucks with more than 200,000 miles, one school bus, one school bus body and a John Deere Riding mower.

"The mower has a 15-18 horse motor, but the motor is worn out. The mower deck is still good," Smithson said.

The board agreed to advertise the items for sale.

The board was to evaluate Smithson as they do every year. However, President Jesse Runyan was absent along with other members. The board decided to wait until next month to evaluate Smithson.