Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Board Appoints New Member To Fill Vacancy
FARMINGTON — Farmington School Board member Bleaux Barnes has resigned his position and Amy Hill, a mother of four boys attending Farmington schools, will take his place.
Farmington School Board, in a special meeting July 7, unanimously voted to appoint Hill to fill the vacancy through September 2016. If Hill wants to continue after that, she would have to run for office in the September 2016 school election.
Hill and her husband, Dale Hill, own Hill Electric Co., in Farmington. The couple has children in fourth, sixth, ninth and 11th grades in Farmington.
“Unfortunately, we knew this was probably coming when Skyler (Barnes’ son) graduated,” said board President Jeff Oxford, referring to Barnes’ resignation. “We’ve been putting some thought to it.”
Oxford said that Hill had expressed interest about two years ago in serving on the school board and he thought it would be appropriate to ask her to step in and fill the vacancy.
Other board members agreed with his recommendation.
“No one has expressed an interest to me,” said Travis Warren, board vice president. “I think Amy would be a good candidate.”
Board member Doug Williams added, “I’ve literally known Amy all of my life and I would recommend her.”
Hill, who did not attend the special meeting, said serving on a school board would be a new experience for her and she is looking forward to learning how a school board functions.
“We have four boys growing up in the school system. One at almost every school. Hopefully, I can give some good input on the future of our district,” Hill said.
In addition to academics, her sons are involved in many extracurricular activities, including sports and band, and she said she believes that perspective will help her in serving on the board.
Barnes has served on the Farmington School Board for more than four years. He was appointed to the board March 28, 2011, when former board President Tim Burnett resigned his position. Barnes ran for office and was elected to the position in September 2011.
“I’m going to miss him around here,” Oxford said. “Bleaux has been a tremendous asset to this board. He couldn’t have been here at a better time when we were going through construction.”
Bryan Law, school superintendent, said Barnes personally dropped off his letter of resignation but the letter did not give a reason for resigning.
This is the third time in six years that a Farmington School Board member has resigned before finishing out a term. Besides Burnett and Barnes, former board member Wesley Stevens resigned in May 2013 and Travis Warren was appointed to fill the vacancy. Warren was elected to the position in September 2013.