Board approves revised legislative language on filling vacancies, will submit bill text to state

The Muscogee County School District Board of Education on Jan. 21 approved revised 2025 legislative priorities and agreed to submit the actual bill language to the state legislature to change how the board fills vacancies.

Board members debated whether the proposal would force future local changes to return to the legislature. “What y’all are voting on is the actual language that we’re going to send to our legislative delegation to change the way in which the board fills vacancies,” said Greg Ellenton, a staff member assisting the board, before the vote.

The proposal’s supporters said some procedural details about selecting a temporary board member are local policy and can be adjusted later, while other elements — such as the timing tied to state election cycles — would require state action. Board member Dr. Chambers asked for clarification: “If we want to make a change ... does that mean we then have to go back to legislation if there are any changes, or can we tweak this once we put it into our policy manual?” Greg Ellenton replied that parts of the proposal are local and “there are parts of this that you could change because they’re in your local policy already,” but that changes affecting election timing would require state action.

Ellenton and other staff noted the language follows existing state statute phrasing about general elections and the nonpartisan primary in May. Ellenton said he discussed the interpretation with Nancy Boren (referred to in the meeting) and that the statute’s phrasing explains how a special appointment interacts with the May nonpartisan primary and the November general election.

Naomi Buckner moved to approve the revised legislative priorities, which include the attached bill language; the motion passed. Board members who announced their votes during the roll-call portion included Vanessa Jackson, Mark Cantrell and Dr. Chambers. The meeting record shows the motion carried.

The board also noted public hearings related to House Bill 581 (Statewide Floating Homestead Exemption) were being rescheduled because of the virtual format and inclement weather; the chair said at least one hearing will be held Feb. 10, 2025, at 5 p.m., with additional dates advertised.

The board’s action sends the specific language to the district’s legislative delegation; it does not itself change local policy until and unless the legislature enacts the proposed bill.

The board will revisit public hearing scheduling and any local policy steps after the legislature acts or if staff identify local items that can be adjusted without state action.