Spokane school board member Riley Smith will resign this week, citing job that presents conflict of interest
Riley Smith, who’s been a member of the Spokane Public Schools Board of Directors for less than two years, will resign at the end of the week due to a job opportunity that presented a conflict of interest with his elected position.
“It really was just an opportunity that came up for me, unexpectedly,” Smith, who was elected to a six-year term in November 2021, said in an interview Tuesday.
Smith, a 25-year-old alumnus of North Central High School, posted his letter of resignation to social media Tuesday afternoon. In it, he highlighted work of the board over the past two years, including increasing bus access for students through a partnership with the Spokane Transit Authority and a new partnership with the nonprofit running Hoopfest to increase access to extracurricular sports in district buildings. He also lamented a discrepancy in compensation for school board members statewide with more well-paid government positions, and the six-year term length that is established by local policy. Such policies shut out some community members from running for positions, including those most affected by the policies of the board, Smith argued: young parents.
“I would argue that your school board has the most day-to-day effect on raising a family in the community,” Smith said.
A January study by the state’s Department of Commerce found that school board members in the state made 61% less than elected officials in comparable positions. A state law, which hasn’t changed since 1987, provides $50 per day to school board members, and those payments are capped at $4,800 annually. Local school board policy also establishes some expenses that may be reimbursed. All of that combines to make it difficult for people early in their careers to sign up for the job, Smith said.
The Commerce Department concluded that annual compensation needed to be increased to $12,288, to be equal to other similar positions, and that the total dollar amount should be revisited every five years to account for inflation.
Smith would not provide more details about the job he will leave the board to step into, though he said he believed it would allow him to continue working with the district and advocating on behalf of students. He also plans to continue advocating for a bond measure that the district is planning to put before voters in February.
The district’s budget for next year also won’t be finalized until this summer. Smith, who is the half-brother of Spokane City Councilman Zack Zappone, said he’d hoped he’d be able to remain on until the budget was finished, but the timing of the new job prevented that. He also said he was glad he was able to attend graduation for high school seniors over the weekend.
Smith’s resignation, effective Friday, will begin a 90-day clock established under state law to name a replacement, who will be appointed by a majority of the rest of the school board. Board President Mike Wiser said Tuesday he believed the job would attract quality candidates, based on past experience filling vacancies on the dais.
“We want to get the word out to the community,” said Wiser, “and encourage as many folks as possible to consider it. It’s a bit of an intense, mostly volunteer position, but we usually have good luck in getting qualified candidates.”
Kevin Morrison resigned his post on the board in June 2020, after less than a year on the job. He was later replaced by Aryn Ziehnert, who declined to run for the seat in 2021. Smith was elected to that seat in November.
Smith’s resignation after filing week for the November school board election means the person appointed will serve until the November 2025 school board election. The person who wins that election will serve until the November 2027 election, when Smith’s term was scheduled to end.