Richland picks 2 new school board members. Who was chosen to serve after the recall
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Richland School Board Recall Effort
A high-profile group of voters filed to recall board members Semi Bird, Audra Byrd and Kari Williams after their controversial vote to make face masks optional.
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The Richland School Board chose community connections over other traits when deciding at a special meeting Wednesday night who should fill two vacancies.
After two hours of public interviews and multiple closed-door executive sessions, the three-member school board voted unanimously to appoint Bonnie Mitchell to Position No. 1 and Brianna Watson to Position No. 4.
Watson will serve until the general election results are certified on Nov. 28. Mitchell will serve a two-year term, and will have the chance to run for election if she chooses in 2025.
The appointments stem from the success of an Aug. 1 recall election, when a majority of the five school board members — former members Semi Bird, Audra Byrd and Kari Williams — were removed from office over an illegal COVID mask vote.
One of the board’s top priorities this fall will be to approve a bond package to build a third high school in West Richland. While the school district already has begun the planning process, they will need to earn the support of parents and voters next year in order to make that building a reality.
Board President Rick Jansons said it was that “deep community connection” that made Mitchell and Watson stand out.
“I think that was the tipping factor for the board members,” he said.
Mitchell was selected among a group of four candidates.
She and her six kids are products of Richland schools. Mitchell also is a longtime Richland High School volunteer and served 12 years as president of the Bomber Booster Club.
Mitchell said the board’s effectiveness will come in its ability to cooperate with one another and listen to opposing viewpoints to act in the benefit of students.
“I would judge my effectiveness on the school board as Richland schools being a place where people want to be,” Mitchell said.
Watson works as an engineer and serves as co-chair of the district’s Parent-Guardian Advisory Committee. She also previously served as vice president of the Jefferson Elementary PTA.
She was selected among a pool of five candidates.
Raised in Arkansas, Watson said she saw peers graduate from high school who didn’t know how to read.
“I recognize how great a district we are. And I appreciate that we invest in our students and that our community believes in our district,” she said. “Growing up with folks in that community, it was heartbreaking to see that education was not as well supported as I have seen it here.”
These two appointees will take their oath of office and be sworn in at the next meeting on Sept. 26. The board will be made whole after nearly a month.
The Aug. 1 recall election initially crippled the school board’s ability to form a quorum and hold meetings, so local Educational Service District 123 appointed Lindsay Lightner to the board to give them the three-member majority they needed.
Jansons and the board urged all candidates interviewed Wednesday night to register and run for the school board once their seats are up for reelection again in two years.
“This was a hard decision, and that was echoed by all three of us,” Jansons said. “But I think with this board the community can look forward rather than dwell on the last few years and COVID. We’re moving forward again with a student-centered board.”
The board also interviewed Ron Higgins, Heather Cleary, Tony Gonzalez, Gary Wargo, Jeffrey Dennison, Rick Raymond and Katrina Waters for the two seats.
This story was originally published September 20, 2023 at 8:43 PM.
