Board begins interviews to fill precinct 5 vacancy; candidate Russell Askren urges overhaul of special-education processes

The Salt Lake City Board of Education began its public interview process on Sept. 2 to fill a vacancy in precinct 5. The board described a multi-step process for the evening: the vacancy was posted Aug. 5, applications were accepted Aug. 6–26, and the board received 16 applications; 13 met the county residency requirement and eight completed required county forms by the Aug. 27 deadline. Three candidates withdrew the morning of Sept. 2, leaving five candidates to be interviewed in alphabetical order.

Each candidate was allotted 25 minutes — 20 minutes for the interview and a five-minute transition period — and board members will submit anonymous ranking sheets after interviews. Business administrator Alan Kearsley will tabulate rankings during a brief recess and report the highest-rated candidates to the board; the board’s legal counsel reminded members not to confer about rankings during the break. The ranking does not itself appoint a candidate; any appointment requires a formal motion, second and roll-call vote by the full board. If appointed, the successful candidate would be sworn in that evening by county clerk Lanny Chapman.

During the first candidate interview, Russell Askren (one of five candidates listed on the agenda) focused his remarks on special-education services at East High School. “The special ed program at East High is a mess,” Askren said, describing frequent summer reconfigurations, personnel reductions, inconsistent application of course credit rules, and a case he described in which his son — after years of inadequate and inappropriate services — was unenrolled and later re-enrolled in a manner Askren said ignored course sequencing in math.

Askren told the board such problems can create legal risk because the district must meet statutory obligations for special education. He asked that the superintendent present a thorough overview of the district’s special-education programs at all levels, including how services are determined, eligibility processes and how the district ensures students receive required services.

Askren also criticized the district’s approach to chronic absenteeism, arguing it places too much emphasis on parent notification and automated messaging rather than person-to-person outreach and relationship-building. He pointed to an example in which a school vice principal called after a student left early but no further action occurred, and he advocated for resource-intensive, individualized approaches when necessary to address underlying causes of absenteeism.

Ending: The evening’s interview schedule continued after Askren’s remarks. Board members will rank the candidates anonymously and may move to appoint a candidate after recess and tabulation; no appointment was recorded at the time of the transcript excerpt.