How the Racine Unified Board of Education fills future vacancies is the result of combining two ideas into one.
Board member Don Nielsen put forth a proposal Monday during a Governance Committee meeting that, in a nutshell, has the board choosing three random members to break any possible ties, a story in The Journal Times reads.
The measure was made necessary after Gov. Scott Walker last year signed into a law a bill that gave board President Melvin Hargrove the power to fill a seat left vacant after Lisa Parham resigned in June. State Rep. Tom Weatherston and state Sen. Van Wanggaard, both Racine County Republicans, introduced the bill when board members voted 35 times but couldn’t break a tie between former board member Wally Rendon and John Koetz.
The law also required school boards to craft policies and procedures for filling seats in the event board members can’t make a decision.
Nielsen told the newspaper his idea is better than flipping a coin and spreads the decision between three people who could split 2-1 but still arrive at a definitive outcome.
“I would rather have a random selection of people elected than a random flip of a coin,” he is quoted as saying.
District lawyers are working on the official language, which should be in place prior to the April 5 general election.