Plymouth School Board interviews 4 candidates for vacant board seat

The Plymouth Community School Board took the first step Monday evening toward filling a vacancy on its board, interviewing four candidates for the open at-large seat.

The vacancy was created when Allie Shook resigned her board position to accept an appointment as the North Central CTE Director. Current board members Stacy Patrick, Robin Cupka, Lisa Huff, and Steve Holm conducted the interviews, asking each candidate the same set of seven standardized questions.

Candidates were asked to share their background and what drew them to seek a trustee position, to identify strengths of the school district and areas where the community would like to see improvement, and to distinguish between board governance and administrative management. They were also asked about the attributes of an effective board member, what strengths they would bring to the role, how they would handle calls from community members with concerns, complaints, or compliments, and what principles would guide their approach to school budgets and decisions.

Each candidate was allotted 30 minutes for responses but used approximately 15 minutes. The four candidates interviewed Monday evening were Jamie Borden, Tabitha Johnson, Betsy Barron, and Deb Friar. Video of the interviews is available on the Plymouth Community School Corporation's website at https://go.boarddocs.com/in/pcscin/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=DVCRGB6DE848

The board will interview additional candidates on Wednesday, July 1, at 6 p.m. Following those interviews, the board will convene in executive session to discuss the candidates. A special public meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 2, at which the board is expected to make its formal appointment.