The District 55 School Board appointed David Kem and Diane Gerson to fill two vacant board positions during its regular meeting Monday night.
Gerson will fill at-large position five left vacant by Bob Keller. With no Cascadia applicants for the board, the board converted Cascadia position four to an at-large designation and appointed Kem to serve until the end of the term in July 2003. The position would only be open to Cascadia residents in the election next spring. If the area had no candidates, Kem could be reappointed by the board.
Gerson is a retired teacher and administrator. She earned her doctorate at Brigham Young University. She is active in many community functions, including the Friends of the Library, the Literacy Council and the Sweet Home Youth Initiative.
Kem has two children attending Sweet Home schools. One is a senior in high school next year. The other is in junior high, and he likes to be active in their education. He has lived in Sweet Home for nine years. He works for Consumer Power. He is a member of the Linn County Search and Rescue team and has served three years on the School District’s budget committee.
William Lewis, a retired attorney and judge, also applied for a board position.
Present and voting to appoint Gerson and Kem were Chairman Don Hopkins, Milt Moran, Barbara Snow, Scott Proctor and Lee Babcock. Sam Shipp and Tim Crocker were absent.
In other business, the board:
– Appointed Hopkins chairman. He succeeds Milt Moran. Moran was named secretary. Babcock was named vice chairman.
– Reached a consensus to retain earthquake and flood insurance.
Business Manager Russell Allen said that last year the insurance was made a separate part of the district’s property insurance coverage. The cost for it last year was a little more than $13,000. This year, the premium will be about $20,000 for $10 million in coverage on a 2 percent deductible with a $350,000 minimum.
Injuries from the bus accident with a Moo Lines Truck on Highway 99 last year have increased a rating with the district’s workman’s compensation carrier as well, Allen said. One of the claims will be settled shortly. When the other claim is resolved, the rating should return to the average rating that has been carried by the district.
The district did not have liability in the accident, Allen said, but until the injury claims are resolved, the district’s insurance rate will be affected.
Total, the insurance premiums are some $20,000 more than what the district budgeted.
Directors Moran and Proctor both shared concerns about not having the insurance coverage, and the board offered its consensus to retain the coverage.
Though $10 million would be low in the event of a destructive and widespread earthquake, Allen said, the funds would be important in accessing Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance. FEMA money also would require the district maintain coverage.