Tracy Anderson resigned from her seat on the Festus R-6 Board of Education after learning a vote she cast in April violated a nepotism law enforced by the Missouri Ethics Commission.
Anderson’s resignation took effect May 19 and was announced at the board’s May 20 meeting.
She was re-elected in 2020, so her unexpired term has about a one year and 10 months remaining.
Anderson said she inadvertently violated a state statue when she voted to retain Lynn Stanley as the board secretary during a reorganization of the board after the April 6 election.
“She’s married to my husband’s (Steve Anderson’s) nephew. Because she’s related to me – even though she’s married to my husband’s relative – according to the Missouri Ethics Commission, I should have abstained.
“I was forced to resign. I didn’t have a whole lot of choice.”
Anderson said in 2020 she abstained from the vote when Stanley was first nominated for the board secretary position.
In April, however, Anderson said she unintentionally voted to keep Stanley in the position.
“It’s just an oversight,” she said. “I didn’t think about it.”
Superintendent Link Luttrell said he agrees Anderson did not intentionally violate the statute, but the district must adhere to the law.
“It’s one of those things. It happened,” he said. “The Missouri Constitution is pretty specific on this. It’s in Article 7, Section 6.”
Luttrell said the April school board meeting was livestreamed and more than one viewer pointed out the mistake.
Anderson said other board members also alerted Luttrell to the mistake, but she bears no ill will toward them.
“We all get along just fine,” she said.
Luttrell said the remaining board members didn’t need to vote to accept Anderson’s resignation. However, he said they needed to acknowledge her resignation in case they decide to appoint someone to fill her seat.
They voted 6-0 to acknowledge Anerson’s resignation.
Luttrell said the board now must decide what to do about the open seat. The board could appoint someone to finish the term, appoint someone else to fill the seat until the next election in April 2020 or leave the seat open, he said.
Anderson, who served two full terms on the board from 2013-2019, before taking a year off and running again in 2020, said she intends to run again for a board seat.
“I’m there to support our schools,” she said. “I love the district. I’m passionate about the district. I’ll run again in April (2022).”
Luttrell said Anderson is allowed to run for a board seat again.