School board post vacant

Board seeks replacement

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

— A formal resignation letter from the Gentry School Board was received from Le’Ann Watanabe on Jan. 22.

Watanabe attributed her resignation to health concerns.

“Due to health reasons, I feel I can no longer give the time and dedication that the position requires,” she wrote.

Watanabe’s five-year term expires in September of this year, with the board position to be on the ballot at that time.

The school board convened in a special meeting on Monday to review the process to fill the vacant Zone 1 position for the remainder of Watanabe’s term.

State law gives the remaining school board members the duty to fill the vacant post within 30 days. If the board fails to fill the post, the vacancy will be filled by an appointment of the county quorum court, Gentry School superintendent Dr. Randy Barrett said.

A motion was made and adopted unanimously by the remaining school board members to make it known - and run an ad in the Feb. 3 Courier-Journal - that the Zone 1 post is vacant and request that persons living within the zone who are interested in serving on the school board submit a letter indicating their interest to the Gentry School District superintendent and attend the regular Feb. 15 school board meeting. The board intends to fill the vacant post at the February meeting.

Zone 1 lies east of Arkansas Highway 59 and south of Arkansas Highway 12, except for a portion of that territory north of Dawn Hill East Road and west of Miller and Edmondson Roads which is in Zone 3.

News, Pages 1 on 01/27/2010