KSJD Local Newscast - October 29, 2024

A vacancy on the Montezuma-Cortez School District Board may continue indefinitely. The seat was left empty when Rafe O’Brien of Director District A resigned in June. Since then, the board has been operating with just six members. Janet Hough, who also lives in District A, came before the board at its September meeting to say she had expressed interest in the position but had not been contacted. Colorado law says a school board is to fill a vacancy within 60 days and if it does not, the board president should appoint someone “forthwith.” According to Hough, she notified board president Sheri Noyes of her interest on Aug. 20. Noyes did not respond to an email from KSJD. Hough, a home-health-care provider who has two children in the district, has voiced philosophical differences with the Re-1 board. However, she said in an email to its members that she is “willing and ready to educate myself and work with all of you for the betterment of our students and district.” She told KSJD by phone, “Somebody has to do something and it might as well be me.” Rachel Amspoker, senior legal counsel for the Colorado Association of School Boards, told KSJD by email, “Although Colorado law doesn't mention this possibility, if a board president does not designate a board member, realistically yes the seat will remain vacant until it is filled in an appointment or an election.”