SOLON — “When you lose somebody who’s on your team, it’s an opportunity to reform that team. The Board that existed Friday (Nov. 15) doesn’t exist anymore. We’ve got a new Board tomorrow (Tuesday, Nov. 19) and that Board will move forward together regardless of who is on there. This is our opportunity to push the Board and the District forward over this next year,” said Tim Brown, President of the Solon Community School District Board of Directors before calling for a motion to nominate one of three candidates to fill a vacancy on the School Board.
The Board met in special session Monday (Nov. 18) to consider three applicants – former Board Secretary Kris Wentzien, Iowa City Community School District Special Education administrator Jillian O’Rourke, and Solon Education Foundation board member Megan Laing, to fill the vacancy created by the departure of board member Jami Wolfe, who has moved out of the district. Wolfe’s resignation was effective as of Friday, Nov. 15.
Laing won the appointment, after a motion by Cassie Rochholz and a second by Dan Coons, on a 4-0 vote and was sworn in at the Board’s regular monthly meeting Tuesday, Nov. 19 (moved up from Thursday due to the Iowa Association of School Boards’ annual convention in Des Moines).
After a battery of questions from the Board, Board member Adam Haluska noted, “I don’t think we could’ve picked three better candidates.” Board member Dan Coons agreed saying all three were “very qualified,” while Rochholz noted all three displayed “passion” and “heart” while Brown found “many strengths” and “few weaknesses” calling Wentzien “a foundation of the district,” citing Laing’s work on the Solon Education Foundation and connections in the district’s buildings and noting O’Rourke’s education background and“understanding of all of the moving parts.” Brown added, “Each one moves us in a different direction,” highlighting the difficulty the Board had in making their selection.
Following the vote Brown thanked the trio for applying and making the Board’s decision a difficult one. “I hope that you will all be involved (in the district),” he said. “I wish that we could appoint all of you but there’s no quick way to add two to make a five-person board into a seven-person board. I do appreciate you taking the opportunity to be here.”
Laing will serve for one year and be up for reelection in November 2025 for a full two-year term.