Spokane school board draws closer to filling vacant seat

The Spokane Public Schools board of directors has narrowed their list of applicants for a vacant board seat to seven.

“While it was more work to have to evaluate 25 candidates, that’s a good problem to have,” said board President Deana Brower. “I feel very honored to receive applications from such great candidates.”

The board seat was left vacant after Paul Schneider resigned from the board in late July. He is accused of hitting a bicyclist while driving drunk.

The board of directors will interview the seven candidates on Monday and Tuesday evening. Brower expects they will make a decision Tuesday night. The board of directors went through a similar process in March. At that time they appointed Mike Wiser to the board to replace the retiring Bob Douthitt.

Brower said that when selecting the seven, they considered “our current board and skill sets and experience” and tried to choose candidates that would complement current board members.

“We’re looking ahead at the current priorities of the district and those coming down the road,” Brower said.

The new board member will be sworn in on Sept. 27. Whomever is selected won’t run for office until November 2019, the next regularly scheduled board election. In November 2019, three seats on the board will be up for election.