State Board Of Education To Meet Thursday After Western Heights Loses 3 School Board Members

Three Western Heights Public Schools board members turned in their resignations Tuesday. Now, the district is left without a quorum and no power to make any decisions. 

The State Board of Education has a meeting scheduled for Thursday where members will discuss any urgent matters within the district. Then, it will be up to the governor to appoint at least one more member to its school board. 

Related: More Than Half Of Western Heights School Board Resigns

Even though the resignations present a unique situation for the district, Western Heights parents believe it will be the positive change they need.  

“Reflecting back on it, we've kind of been put in a tough position," Western Heights parent Amy Boone said. “We've felt for a long time that we haven't had any kind of say in our district with the school board that was in place.”

The board and former superintendent Mannix Barnes have been in the spotlight for years now. Former school board president Robert Everman was also accused of mismanaging district fund and not maintaining a safe and healthy learning environment for Western Heights students.

“A lot of trust and transparency was lost within this district," current WHPS school board member Briana Flatley said. “Our educators felt like their voices weren’t being heard and then that trickled into our community and parents felt like their voices weren’t being heard.”

Without the three members who received a majority of the backlash, Flatley said she hopes the board can regain the trust of the community.

"It’s just re-establishing those relationships and building those relationships back up with our community and our partners to ensure that we are building the best education system for the students of this district,” Flatley said.

Boone is calling on other community members to be more involved in school board matters. She hopes the vacant seats are filled by people who are ready to fight for change and fight for a good education for the entire district.

"My hope for the future is that we can get more people interested in the school board, and we can get a more diverse school board that really represents our community and our population at the school," said Boone. "My hope is that people know that change is here, and that people can be a part of that change."

When the new board members are appointed to the Western Heights’ school board, state superintendent Joy Hofmeister said the district will be in a good place to have a release from state intervention so it can make the best decisions for their students.  

“What we would like to see is the voices of parents and those who live in the Western Heights community to be part of the decision-making that the members that are in those board positions are attentive to the needs of the community," said Hofmeister.