The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District’s Board of Education will be down a member for the next couple months. That’s after the board accepted the resignation of member Brandy Harty on Tuesday.
Harty was not present at the meeting and declined to interview. But in an email to the board dated in late July, she said she was resigning because she was no longer a borough resident.
In the email, Harty said it has been an honor to serve on the board. She wrote, “I am deeply grateful for the trust the community has placed in me during my time on the board and for the opportunity to support public education through this role.”
Harty was elected in 2022, spending almost one full term on the district’s school board, including a stint as its president. Her seat is up for grabs this October, and two candidates are running to replace her: small business owner Audra Hull and oil and gas industry project manager Sam Spencer
While accepting Harty’s resignation Tuesday, the board also signaled in a dual motion that they would not seek an interim replacement for the vacant seat. That’s because the board wouldn’t be able to complete the steps for appointing a new member until late September at the earliest.
Board member Tim Doran was among those who said getting a temporary member up to speed to participate in an estimated two meetings wouldn’t be worth it.
“Certainly, things can come up, but there are no major issues as such in front of us that the six remaining board members would not be able to address or resolve,” he said.
Board policy BB 9222 says a seat must be declared vacant upon acceptance of a resignation. BB 9223 says the board shall appoint a temporary member, but that “no replacement need be appointed if the vacancy occurs for a seat which will be up for election within 30 days.”
Tuesday, when the board accepted Harty’s resignation, was almost 50 days from the Oct. 7 municipal elections. But Doran said the vacancy would bleed into that 30-day timeframe while the board did mandatory advertisements and interviewed applicants, so they didn’t need to appoint a new member.
“To get all of that done becomes very problematic and puts us well within the 30 days prior to the election,” he said.
Board and district leadership also agreed that they did not need to fill the vacancy to accord with the policy.
Board Member Morgan Dulian was the sole voice in favor of appointing someone to the seat. She said she thinks the policy is best interpreted a little more strictly.
“Even though it would only potentially seat a temporary board member for no more than two meetings, I think that it’s important that we stay true to the policies that are in front of us and make sure that the community has an opportunity to participate in that process,” she said.
Dulian confirmed Thursday that she stands by her objection, but she said that she honors and respects the will of the board.