Guilford County school board delays vote on vacant seat after two rejections

The future of the District 3 vacancy on the Guilford County Board of Education remains unclear after a meeting Thursday night.

During a work session on Jan. 26, the board tabled a vote to reconsider the twice-rejected GOP appointment to their next meeting. 

The seat opened when former school board member Republican Pat Tillman was elected to the Guilford County Board of Commissioners last November. 

The county GOP recommended Michael Logan, a Guilford County Schools teacher to replace him. But the school board, which is majority Democrat, has voted him down twice. 

If the board rejects him again, what happens next is still a bit of a mystery. Jill Wilson, the school board’s attorney, says the law isn’t straightforward. 

“If you read the statute, it's incredibly confusing,” she said. “It says two somewhat different things.”

In a previous meeting, Wilson explained the statute in more detail. First, she said the statute holds that vacancies on the school board shall be filled by a vote of the majority of the remaining members. 

But another part of the statute makes specifications for how vacancies should be handled with partisan elections, which the Guilford County school board has. 

That section seems to state that the board must accept the recommendation of the county executive committee, which in this case is the GOP — and GOP representatives have made it clear that they feel the board should simply appoint their recommendation.

But Wilson said the part of the statute requiring a majority vote contradicts that section.

“Because a majority of the board doesn't mean that you just automatically appoint. You must vote,” she said. “So that's your process. It is not clear. It could certainly be clearer than it is.”

When asked at the latest meeting about next steps, Wilson said the board is “just working through it.”

“We're following what we believe to be our legal obligation, so we’ll consider it in the next regular meeting,” she said. 

The next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 7.

Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.