The Kansas City, Kan., school district is seeking a new board member after the resignation of Vicki S. Meyer from the school board.
Meyer, who was vice president of the board, recently stepped down for health reasons after 18 years of service on the board. The board accepted the resignation with regret in mid-May, and the process has started to fill the vacancy.
Meyer said it was “a really, really difficult decision to make to resign. I know they’ll continue to do the great work that they’re doing.”
During her 18 years on the board, the district started the “First Things First” program, children’s test scores have improved significantly, the district has improved overall, the board was holding employees from the top down more accountable, and managed to do more with less, she said. She was part of the board that helped implement policies to improve district test score proficiency by more than 50 percentage points.
Meyer, an attorney for Kansas City, Kan., who has experience working as a teacher, has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in education as well as a law degree.
Meyer and Linda Pendleton, a former school board member, came onto the board at the same time, and served together around 16 years. Pendleton said the board during that time also built some new buildings, and a bond issue was passed to air-condition the schools. They also were on the board long enough to see kids go from kindergarten to graduation, Pendleton said.
The school district has started the process for an appointment to Meyer’s unfilled term. The term will expire in July 2017.
Anyone who is a resident of the district who would want to be considered for the appointment may send in an application to the school district by 5 p.m. June 15. The person’s statement of interest and resume should be sent to Unified School District No. 500, 2010 N. 59th St., Kansas City, Kan., 66104, Attention: Susan Westfahl, Clerk of the Board of Education.