The Orange County Board of Education elected Trustee Mary Barkey president at its July 9 organizational meeting, filling the role for the coming year. Trustees also elected Tim Shaw as vice president and George Valdez as clerk.
The elections came at the start of the regular July meeting after roll-call and approval of the June 18 minutes. Dr. Ken Williams, who served as board president this past year, opened the meeting and later received public thanks from several trustees for his leadership during the year, including selecting a superintendent and general counsel and concluding two litigation matters.
Barkey took the gavel after the roll-call vote. After her election she nominated Shaw as vice president; the board closed nominations and approved the officers by roll call. Trustee George Valdez was nominated and elected clerk.
Trustee Tim Shaw said of the officer slate, "We had a terrific group of applicants" in reference to later staff hiring work, and Trustee Barkey said she was "honored to serve as president for the next year of this fantastic board." Several trustees praised Dr. Williams: one said, "Ken has been a great leader. He has a lot of experience."
No formal objections or abstentions were recorded; roll-call votes showed unanimous support for each officer election.
The reorganizational actions were procedural and did not change existing board policy. The board moved on to scheduled public comments and agenda business after the reorganizational votes.