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Trustee Shelley Hong to resign; board adopts resolution to fill vacancy by provisional appointment
Summary
Trustee Shelley Hong said she will resign at the end of the week after moving out of her trustee area. The Moreland School District board adopted a resolution to pursue a provisional appointment (not a special election) and moved its interview date to Saturday, June 6, under a 60-day deadline to act.
Trustee Shelley Hong announced she will resign at the end of the week because she moved out of her trustee area, prompting the Moreland School District Board of Trustees to adopt a resolution establishing a process to fill the vacancy by provisional appointment rather than calling a costly special election.
The superintendent told the board that Hong’s resignation becomes effective Thursday, April 30, and staff presented a draft resolution that lays out the timeline and steps for either a provisional appointment or a special election. The board discussed the practical limits of trustee-area eligibility and the district’s preference to appoint because a special election would be expensive: “Hundreds of thousands of dollars for the district to run a special election,” a trustee said during the discussion.
Board members noted a tight statutory timeline: once the seat is vacated the board has 60 calendar days to make a provisional appointment. Trustees amended the staff’s tentative timetable to move the candidate interview date from Tuesday, June 2, to Saturday, June 6 to allow greater public participation and convenience for working applicants. The amended resolution was moved, seconded and approved on a voice vote.
Shelley Hong addressed the board in a farewell speech, reflecting on five years of service, thanking colleagues and staff and saying she will remain a Moreland advocate. In her remarks she emphasized that she joined the board to serve the community and encouraged continued focus on students.
The board instructed staff to begin outreach under the adopted timeline and to return with application materials and interview logistics. Trustees also asked staff to provide options and public notice language that explain the provisional-appointment process and the statutory 60-day calendar requirement.
Next steps: staff will publish the vacancy notice and candidate application materials and proceed with the interview schedule as amended. If the board cannot identify a qualified provisional appointee within the 60-day window, the board may order a special election per state law.
