D C Everest Area School District board appoints Ben Bliven to fill vacancy through April 2025

The D C Everest Area School District school board on Monday appointed Ben Bliven to fill a vacant board seat through April 2025 after a session of timed interviews and a ranked-ballot selection process.

Board President Lindsay Lewitsky explained the process at the meeting’s start: each candidate would answer a standard set of questions with a 15-minute visible clock and five-minute breaks between interviews. After hearing all candidates, board members ranked their top three choices on ballots where a first-place ranking earned three points, second-place two points and third-place one point.

The ranked ballot tally produced a top three of Ben Bliven (10 points), Amy Ebeling (7 points) and Stephanie Daniels (5 points). The board then conducted a final vote. The clerk reported the final count as three votes for Bliven, one for Ebeling and one for Daniels; President Lewitsky announced, “Ben Blevin has been voted on to serve the term out through April of 20 25. And we will notify him and everyone else tomorrow morning.”

The appointment is for the unexpired term ending in April 2025. The board indicated it will email all applicants the decision the morning after the meeting.

The board approved the meeting agenda earlier in the session and conducted the interviews in public, following the timeline President Lewitsky described. Members said the process was intended to be fair and consistent across candidates.

Next steps: the district will notify the appointee and the other candidates by email, and the appointed member will be seated for the remainder of the term.