Richland officials spar over board leadership. Months ago they tried ousting the president
Every January, school boards across Washington state vote to appoint a president and vice president to lead the board’s meetings that year.
Those responsibilities generally shuffle between the more senior directors.
But two of Richland’s newest school board officials — Semi Bird and Audra Byrd — said they believe newly-elected members shouldn’t have to wait to serve as president and vice president.
“These are grown professionals of the community. And to silence them, right off the bat, and for us as a board to say they’re incapable of serving. I’m strong on this ... That’s like silencing the people,” said Bird.
He compared the practice to the pecking order of college Greek life.
The comments came at the school board’s regular meeting Tuesday night, during a regular review of board policies.
The board ultimately chose to amend the language to read that “a newly appointed/elected board member will not be eligible to serve as president unless a majority of the board has been appointed.”
Previously, any member could be appointed to an officer role — such as president, vice president or legislative representative — by a majority vote.
Byrd, who described herself at the meeting as a Libertarian, said she was for “less government overreach” and said the move looked like an “abuse of power.”
“This, to me, by putting something in policy that doesn’t have to be in policy, that is an example of government overreach, where we’re trying to micromanage something that the board can always vote on,” she said.
Byrd and Bird are the newest members on the school board.
In February, the two tried to unseat fellow board member Jill Oldson from her role as board president. It happened the week after their controversial vote to go “mask optional” in defiance of Washington’s statewide mandate.
Bird said the president and vice president hold additional responsibilities, work closely with the superintendent and have a heightened influence over the board’s agenda. Those duties, he said, shouldn’t be limited by board experience.
President Jill Oldson said regardless of where people sit on the board every board member has one-fifth of a vote.
She said she doesn’t believe the revision “silences” board members, but provides an opportunity for people to step up into leadership over time as they gain experience.
“They’re not necessarily incapable, but I think it just is better to have a little bit of knowledge under your belt,” she said.
This story was originally published June 16, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
