Post Falls Fills Board Vacancy Educator Will Be School Board’S Zone 2 Rep
A North Idaho College ethics instructor was chosen Monday over a staunch critic of the district to fill a school board vacancy.
Michelle Lippert, an educator with 20 years’ experience, was favored 3-1 by the Post Falls School Board to fill the Zone 2 vacancy left by Kevin Schneidmiller. Schneidmiller resigned last month because he is moving out of the trustee zone he represents.
The position is up for election in May.
Just one board member, Charles Eberle, voted in favor of appointing financial consultant Don Morgan to the post.
“I’m convinced this decision was pretty much made going in,” Morgan said after trustees interviewed the candidates for more than an hour. “This was a formality.”
The four school board members quizzed the candidates on a range of topics including dress codes, the purpose of public education, and their reasons for wanting to serve on the board.
“Their names are Adam and Jacob,” Lippert said, noting her young sons as a major factor for her desire to serve. “I believe in public education. I believe it is the obligation of the public at large to educate the children in our community.”
Morgan, who may run for the trustee position in May, said he would bring a diverse point of view to the board.
“I can help start healing the wounds that are in the community,” he said. “If you’re going to criticize, you should be willing to get your hands dirty and jump in.”
A frequent and vocal critic of the board, Morgan has most recently lobbied against the district’s handling of May’s school board election. A state ethics panel is investigating the race, in which a parent group distributed fliers to elementary students endorsing the incumbents.
Eberle applauded Morgan “for having the guts to apply,” and said it would serve the board well to appoint someone with a differing view.
But trustee Donagene Turnbow said selecting a woman to fill the vacancy would provide another kind of diversity.
“We are here for all children,” Turnbow said. “We need to come on this board without an agenda of our own.”
Lippert will be sworn in at next month’s school board meeting.