The De Soto Board of Education is looking for a new school board member after Nicole Spruell resigned for the second time this year.
Interested candidates have until 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 1, to apply.
Spruell, who was elected to a one-year term in April 2023, resigned for the first time on Feb. 28, citing personal reasons because she had applied for a job within the school district.
She already had filed for reelection to the school board, though, and it was too late to have her name remained from the April 2 ballot for one of the two three-year terms open on the board.
On March 25, the board voted unanimously to hire her as the district’s director of communications and digital learning and chief grant writer. Spruell, who currently teaches in the Mehlville School District, begins her new job on July 1.
On April 2, Spruell (with 827 votes) and Beverly Wilson (with 995 votes) won the two seats, defeating challenger Joseph Smart (496 votes).
Ron Farrow, assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction and assessment, who will take over as superintendent on July 1 when Josh Isaacson retires, said Spruell had to turn down the board position in order to keep her new job with the school district.
She resigned and on April 16, the board declared a board vacancy and announced a timeline for the majority of the board to appoint a new member to serve until April 2024.
School district residents who want to apply are asked to send a letter stating their qualifications and reason for wanting to serve on the school board to the “secretary of the board.”
The school board will review the letters at a special meeting set for 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 8. The board may select final candidates from the applicants, and finalists will be interviewed in open session at the regular meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 16. An appointment will be made in open session at the next regular meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 20.