Board Appoints Sofia Gomelski to Vacant School Board Seat

The Laramie School District Board of Trustees appointed Sofia Gomelski to a vacant board seat Tuesday after returning from executive session. The board voted to appoint Gomelski by voice vote after a motion to appoint was moved and seconded; the board chair announced, “Motion passes.” The appointment followed public comment from Christopher Stratton, who urged more transparent procedures for filling vacancies. Stratton, a resident who identified his address as 1569 North Sixth, asked the board “to fairly and without bias, call applicant pools for 3 applicants for the interview process” and said he had “spent several hours trying to find these procedures, but came up empty handed.” Board members did not indicate a change to the appointment process at the meeting; the board took the appointment action after the executive-session deliberation and announced the result in open session. The board chair thanked everyone who applied to fill the vacancy before adjourning the meeting. Board action and the public comment occurred during the business meeting; the appointment followed an executive session and was announced when the board reconvened to open session. The appointment is effective immediately as announced by the board at the meeting; no vote tally or alternative nominees were read into the public record during the open session announcement. A copy of the board’s published procedures for filling vacancies was not cited during the meeting; Christopher Stratton asked the board to make such procedures publicly available.