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 Thursday evening 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 Thursday’s meeting.
Residents interested in applying for the board seat must submit an application letter of no more than three pages describing why they would like to serve on the board and their qualifications for the position.
In order to qualify for the 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. 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 decided to wait until their meeting next week — Thursday, May 19 — to decide when they will review applications and conduct interviews with candidates.
Whoever is appointed to the vacant seat will serve until next April, when it will be up for election.
The board agreed 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 May 19 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.
