Cuyahoga Heights board elects Gary Cichocchi president; sets timetable to fill Jan. 21 vacancy

The Cuyahoga Heights Board of Education on Jan. 7 elected and swore in new officers for 2026 and set an expedited timetable to fill a forthcoming board vacancy.

Board president Gary Cichocchi administered oath language on the record and the board confirmed officers by roll call. Vice-presidential officers were also selected and sworn during the organizational meeting.

The election came shortly after Cichocchi read a resignation letter from board member Matt Brown, effective Jan. 21, 2026. Cichocchi read Brown’s text to the board: “I am writing to formally resign from my position on the Board of Education, effective 01/21/2026,” and said the resignation was sent to the board earlier in the week. Superintendent Matt Young told the board that the vacancy clock would begin when the resignation takes effect.

Young and district staff outlined the statutory timeline and the board’s obligations under state law, noting the earliest the board may appoint a replacement is 10 days after the vacancy and that the board must act within 30 calendar days or the probate court will fill the seat. Young said the board must solicit and accept written applications, interview all interested candidates (preferably in a consistent format) and make any formal appointment in open session.

To keep the process public and fair, administration recommended using an Ohio School Boards Association application template and a consistent set of interview questions. The board discussed an application close date in late January (administration proposed Jan. 30) with interviews to follow and a special meeting scheduled if necessary to meet the 30-day deadline.

Board members were reminded about Sunshine Law limits on informal communications: Young advised using blind-carbon-copy email distribution of candidate materials to avoid creating a quorum in an unofficial forum. "You just wanna come up with what your process is going to be to share with the other people as well so that we're not at risk of anything like that," he said.

The board did not name an appointee at the meeting. The administration said it will publish the application and a timeline on the district website and distribute the application through the district newsletter and social media.

What happens next: the board will accept applications through the posted deadline, interview candidates publicly or in executive session as advised by counsel, and take a vote in open session within the 30-day statutory window.