Oak Park district seeks new trustee

Board vacancy created with Rosen resignation



LOCAL EDUCATION— Oak Park High School is one of six campuses in the unified district. The school trustees will be appointing a new member to fill a board opening. Holding a special election to fill the seat would be costly and time consuming, district officials said. Acorn file photo

LOCAL EDUCATION— Oak Park High School is one of six campuses in the unified district. The school trustees will be appointing a new member to fill a board opening. Holding a special election to fill the seat would be costly and time-consuming, district officials said. Acorn file photo

When Oak Park Unified School District board member Allen Rosen leaves office this month, the district will already have a good idea about what the applicant pool looks like.

Rosen, who’s served on the board since 2010, announced at the board’s Nov. 16 meeting that he would be moving out of Oak Park and will need to give up his seat.

“I want to let the board know and the community know that my wife and I will be moving out of the state early next year and we’re doing that to be closer to our family, to our kids who all graduated from Oak Park High,” he said. “It’s been an honor and privilege to serve Oak Park and Ventura County for the last 11 years and is something I’ll never forget.”

Rosen turned a letter of resignation into the Ventura County Office of Education on Nov. 23. His last day on the board will be Jan. 19.

With the option to replace Rosen either by ballot or appointment, the school board, without much discussion, chose to appoint a member of the community at its Dec. 14 meeting after learning the earliest a special election could be held would be April at a cost of around $50,000.

Rosen

Rosen

The district could hold out and consolidate its election with the June 7 primary at a cheaper price of $6,000; however, the board would be without a member for about four months, and, by then, there would be only five months left of Rosen’s term.

“It takes time to certify the election, and then that person (who wins the election) has literally like a month to refile because the seat— Allen’s seat— is open for election in November,” staff member Ragini Aggarwal explained during the meeting Dec. 14 meeting.

With the 5-0 vote decision made to appoint Rosen’s replacement, the board has opened an application period in which qualified members of the community must complete and turn in their application no later than Jan. 18.

Minimum eligibility requirements for candidates include being a resident of Oak Park and citizen of the state who is at least 18 years old. They must be a registered voter and not be disqualified by the Constitution or laws of the state to hold a civil office.

The district will announce the names of qualified applicants on Jan. 20, and candidate interviews will be conducted at a special board meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thurs., Jan. 27 in Oak Park High School’s presentation room. The meeting is open to the public, who can also view it online at opusd.org/livestream.

The board will make a provisional appointment at the meeting; however, following the replacement decision, the public has the opportunity to call for a special election by petition within 30 days of the provisional appointment.

Candidate packets are available online at Oakparkusd.org/BoardVacancy or by sending an email to Ragini Aggarwal at raggarwal@opusd.org or call (818) 735-3206.

Applications must be submitted by to raggarwal@opusd.org or in-person to OPUSD, 5801 Conifer Street, Oak Park, CA 91377 (attention: Ragini Aggarwal) no later than 4 p.m. Tues., Jan. 18.