The Mehlville Board of Education now is accepting applications from district residents interested in filling the board seat formerly held by Micheal Ocello.

Board members voted 5-0 last week to accept Ocello’s resignation, then voted 5-0 to announce the vacancy and open the application period. Board member Rich Franz was absent from the May 12 meeting.

Residents interested in applying for the board seat must submit a letter of no more than three pages describing why they would like to serve on the board and their qualifications for the position.

To qualify for the school board seat, an applicant:

• Must be a resident taxpayer of the Mehlville School District.

• Must have resided in Missouri for a minimum of one year.

• Must be at least 24 years of age.

• Must be eligible to hold office in accordance with Missouri law.

• Must not be serving a sentence or period of probation for a felony or a crime that, if committed in Missouri, would be a felony. An applicant must not have pleaded guilty or “no contest” nor been convicted under Missouri law or the law of another jurisdiction of a felony connected with the exercise of the right of suffrage.

Applications are due by 4 p.m. Friday, June 3, and should be addressed to Elaine Powers — Mehlville School Board Secretary, 3120 Lemay Ferry Road, St. Louis, MO 63125.

Board members likely will decide dates for reviewing applications and conducting interviews with candidates when they meet at 7 p.m. today — May 19 — in the Administration Building.

Whoever is appointed to the vacant seat will serve until the April 3 election.

The board agreed last week to temporarily modify its policy on filling vacancies to extend the application period to three weeks from two weeks.

In addition, while it had planned to wait until tonight’s meeting to announce the vacancy, the board was informed by the Missouri School Boards’ Association that it would be OK to do so during the same meeting it accepted Ocello’s resignation, President Venki Palamand said.