Adams County board of education seeks applicants to fill vacant seat
Adams County schools are taking applications for a board seat with a May 27 deadline, and the five-member board will choose who helps steer district policy and spending.
The Adams County Board of Education is looking for someone to fill an open seat, and the clock is already running. Applications were posted May 19 and are due by 3 p.m. May 27, with forms available at the district office or online and completed paperwork returned to Haley Stratton at the district office or emailed to BoardApplication@ovsd.us.
The appointment matters because the new member will join the Adams County/Ohio Valley Board of Education at a busy point in the school year, when the district is moving through year-end activities, graduations and the first stages of summer and fall planning. The board governs a school system that serves the West Union, North Adams, Peebles and Manchester attendance areas, and the person chosen will help shape decisions on policy, staffing, facilities, student services and budgeting.
The district’s board information page lists five current members: David Riley, the president; Sally McDaniel, the vice president; Ben Hilderbrand; Trent Arey; and Paula McIntosh. Riley and McDaniel are listed with terms running through Dec. 31, 2028, while Hilderbrand, Arey and McIntosh are listed through Dec. 31, 2030. The board’s regular business meetings are generally held at 6 p.m. at the Ohio Valley Career and Technical Center unless otherwise noted.
The timing gives the public a narrow window to see how the district fills a leadership opening. Ohio School Boards Association guidance says school board vacancies can arise from death, nonresidence, resignation, removal from office, failure to qualify, removal from the district or extended absences. It also says a board generally must act within 30 days to fill a vacancy, or the county probate court can step in.
This is not the first recent board opening in Adams County schools. In October 2022, the district sought applicants after Charalena Bess resigned on Oct. 24, 2022, with a Nov. 1 deadline for applications. That earlier vacancy gives residents a clear comparison for how the district handled turnover the last time a seat opened.
The current opening comes just after the board met May 18, one day before the vacancy notice was posted, and just before the district’s last day of classes on May 20. Haley Stratton, who is listed in the district staff directory as administrative secretary in human resources, is the contact named in the application instructions as the district works to seat a new member quickly and keep its board fully staffed.
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