Fowler school board unanimously accepts resignation of staff member Casey Cooley

The Fowler Public Schools Board of Education reconvened its special meeting March 24, 2025, to accept the resignation of staff member Casey Cooley after holding multiple executive sessions on personnel matters.

Board President TJ Milford called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. at Fowler Elementary School. The board adopted the agenda on a motion by Jeff Zortman, seconded by Milford; that vote carried 5-0. Board member Travis Sutterfield entered the meeting at 6:04 p.m.

Under the non-elected personnel exception of the Kansas Open Meetings Act, the board repeatedly moved into executive session during the meeting, each time specifying a return time (6:20 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 6:36 p.m., 6:42 p.m., and 6:48 p.m.). Each motion to enter executive session carried unanimously. The motions were made and seconded by board members (Milford, Dana Bartezko, Jeff Zortman and Travis Sutterfield) as recorded in the minutes.

At 6:48 p.m. Milford reconvened the open meeting and moved, seconded by Sutterfield, to accept the resignation of Casey Cooley. The motion carried 6-0. The board then voted to adjourn at 6:49 p.m.

The meeting minutes list members present as Cathay Heinz, Jeff Zortman, Travis Sutterfield, Omar Mijares, TJ Milford and Dana Bartezko; Raquel Saucedo was listed as also present. The minutes do not specify Cooley’s role or the reasons for the resignation; those details were not included in the public record provided in the transcript.

The board cited the Kansas Open Meetings Act’s non-elected personnel exception as the legal basis for the executive sessions. No additional board action, discussion of successor staffing, or timeline for filling the vacancy was recorded in the transcript.