The North Beach School District Board of Directors did not act in time to appoint a replacement for the seat vacated by former board member Scott Sage, so the local Educational Service District has taken over jurisdiction to fill the vacancy under state law.

Under RCW 28A.343.370(1), the board of directors has 90 calendar days after creation of a vacancy to appoint a new director, said Cliff Foster, the attorney working with North Beach in the wake of the decision to terminate the contract of Supt. Deborah Holcomb. “For whatever reason” the Board does not make a new appointment within those 90 days, the jurisdiction to fill the vacancy shifts to the local Educational Service District Board of Directors, Foster said.

For Scott’s seat, the Director District No. 5 position, the only candidate, Phil Hiam, declined to accept the position. “The District did not act on the appointment within the 90 days so under the statute, the appointment power is now vested in the ESD Board,” Foster said.

The ESD process, he added, has been “implemented and an appointment by the ESD Board will occur in the near future.”

North Beach also faces another vacancy in the resignation and departure of Board member Rachel Carl.

Since that resignation occurred in late March, the Board is seeking applicants and plans to appoint a replacement director within the 90 day period, Foster said.

“For both of the vacancies, the appointed directors must be residents of their respective director districts under RCW 28A.343.370(2) and will be required to run in 2019 to fill the remaining two years of the position’s four year term,” he noted.

“I anticipate the Board will be back to five directors by June at the latest,” Foster predicted.