Benicia Unified School District trustees voted unanimously to approve the reappointment of two members of the district’s Citizens Oversight Committee and the removal of another at a shortened meeting Thursday.
The committee, formed last October in response to the city’s passage of Measure S, must consist of seven members, representing a local business, a senior citizens organization, a taxpayers association and BUSD parents, as well as two at-large community members.
Each member can serve two-year terms, except for two members who drew straws at the committee’s first meeting to serve an initial one-year term.
Ron Arrants, an at-large member, and Patricia Lopes, the taxpayers organization member, drew the straws but expressed interest in serving second terms.
“Both members have actively attended all of the meetings,” Chief Business Official Timothy Rahill told trustees Thursday. “They attended the tour of the bond projects this summer and are both interested in serving a second term.”
Another member, Leeann Cawley, representing a local business, has been unable to attend any of the bond meetings; per the school board’s bylaws, Rahill said, the board could remove her from the committee and declare the seat vacant.
Without any additional discussion, the board voted unanimously to approve an extension of Arrants’s and Lopes’s terms and the dismissal of Cawley.
In other business, Superintendent Charles Young formally introduced Mark Corti as interim principal at Benicia High School. Corti previously served as principal of California High School in San Ramon.
Formal introductions were also given for Stephen Brady and Maya Nelson, the new principal and vice principal, respectively, of Benicia Middle School. Brady served as principal for the last two years at Ygnacio Valley High School, Concord, and Nelson has been an art teacher at Benicia High since 2001, where she helped implement the freshman orientation program Link Crew, in which upperclassmen help incoming freshmen get acquainted with the school.
Nelson’s husband Cliff is a teacher at Liberty High, and both her sons attend BUSD schools.
“It’s been kind of a whirlwind in the last few days,” Nelson told the board. “But I really have enjoyed being in Benicia, and I’m so thankful to have this opportunity to make my way over to Benicia Middle School and just continue on with my educational career.”
In other matters, Young read a proclamation recognizing Sept. 7-13 as National Suicide Week. The proclamation also recognized suicide as the 10th-leading cause of death in the U.S., and the second-leading cause of death among youth.
The board adjourned early so trustees could attend Back to School Night events at the district’s four elementary schools. It will next meet on Sept. 17.
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