Sweet Home school board elects Chris Hiaasen to Position 8; appoints vice chair and secretary, accepts resignation

The Sweet Home School board elected Chris Hiaasen to Position 8 after successive rounds of signed written ballots and announced his oath of office during the meeting. The board also appointed Dale as vice chair and nominated Jenna Northern as board secretary by voice votes, accepted the resignation of board member Floyd Neuschwander and directed staff to post the resulting vacancy in the Cascadia area.

The board conducted a written-ballot election for Position 8. After an initial round produced a tie for the highest votes between Jason and Chris, the board proceeded to subsequent rounds, then certified that Chris Hiaasen “received a majority vote and is elected to position number 8.” The result was recorded into the public record and Superintendent Martin administered the oath of office to Hiaasen in open session.

During the same meeting the board moved and seconded a motion to appoint Dale as vice chair; the motion was approved by voice vote. The board then moved and seconded a motion to nominate Jenna Northern as secretary; that motion also passed by voice vote. Minutes show standard voice-roll call procedure ("All in favor, say aye; all opposed, say nay").

On the consent agenda the board accepted the resignation of Harrison Neil, science teacher at the high school, and later accepted the resignation of board member Floyd Neuschwander. Members then directed district staff to post the Cascadia-area vacancy; board practice in the meeting described a 21-day posting period for similar openings.

The board noted that ballots from the internal written voting process will be retained as part of the public record. Members emphasized that paper ballots are tallied and recorded in open session and that the district will follow its established procedures for certifying and documenting results.

The meeting continued with other agenda items after the elections and appointments.