Stevensville board elects new chair and vice chair, reappoints district clerk

The Stevensville School Board completed its annual reorganization at a special meeting, swearing in newly seated trustee Gail Johnstone and electing a new leadership team for the coming year.

After the clerk administered the oath of office to Gail Johnstone, the board followed Policy 11/20 to nominate and vote for leadership. By voice vote, the board elected Stephanie Esch as chair and Jen Gudjeman as vice chair. "Thank you, guys. I appreciate the trust and the confidence. I don't take it lightly," the newly elected chair said after the vote.

Board members also reappointed Kearney as district clerk. The appointment passed by voice vote; the record contains inconsistent first-name references to the clerk in packet materials and meeting remarks (the packet references both "Glenda Kearney" and "Linda Kearney"). The board did not provide a clarifying statement in the meeting record about that discrepancy.

Trustees outlined the next steps for new-member orientation and committee assignments, and said they will schedule training and check-ins with each trustee over the summer. The board opened a call for letters of application for the open school board seat; the application period will begin the day after the meeting and close on June 4 at 4 p.m., with candidate interviews scheduled for 6 p.m. on June 9 prior to the regular meeting.

The reorganization and appointments were completed by voice vote at the special meeting; no recorded roll-call tallies were included in the meeting record.