It was an unusual, yet also historic moment, as Oakdale Joint Unified School District Trustee Area 2 Special Election candidates Terri Taylor and Eric Kjeldgaard awaited their moment with a deck of cards.
“We are here with a tie,” OJUSD Board President Tina Shatswell stated at the regular meeting hosted Monday, April 3. “So, I want to thank you both for going through the whole process and being willing to serve the district. It’s unfortunate to be at this point, but it shows the community wanted both of you to be here.”
Candidate Taylor opened the pack and the two candidates amicably agreed with how to proceed. As both took their turn shuffling the deck which would determine the winner of the historical tie of 502-502 in the race to fill a vacated seat on the school board, comments regarding the unimaginable tiebreaker could be heard throughout the room.
In the end, the tie would not be settled by the high card but rather the high suit, as both candidates pulled a ‘9’ from the fanned deck of cards. Taylor drew a 9 of hearts and Kjeldgaard a 9 of diamonds – once again, in effect, tying.
“The order of suit is spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs,” Deputy Superintendent Larry Mendonca read from the guidelines of a Lot run off. “Unbelievable.”
With the heart coming before diamonds, Taylor won the seat.
Congratulations were offered and Taylor proceeded to take the Oath of Office for the seat of Board Representative for Trustee Area 2. She will now fill the vacant seat for the term that runs through Nov. 30, 2024.
Prior to the start of general business, recognition was given to outstanding students in the area of the Poetry Out Loud Winner, Academic Decathlon Team, as well as the OHS State Qualifying Wrestlers.
Oakdale Teachers Association Representative Omar Salinas gave a brief report, first offering acknowledgment and appreciation to an absent Superintendent Dave Kline. Salinas noted gratitude toward Kline for working with OTA over the past nine months. He additionally offered acknowledgement of the tentative agreement of a 10 percent increase.
“We have a lot of members that are excited about that,” Salinas stated. “But I would be doing some members a disservice, especially our negotiating team a disservice if I did not express we hope precedence hasn’t been set, in regards to not so much the back and forth but movement in that process.”
Salinas further stated that while many members were happy, there was a perceived lack of negotiations expressed by the negotiations team.
Due to the appointment of the newest board member, the ‘closed session’ was moved to the end of the meeting to ensure a balance vote and inclusion of all members.
Upon returning from closed session, President Shatswell reported on a number of items including an agreement between Superintendent Kline and OJUSD for a paid leave of absence effective April 3, 2023 through June 30,2023.
An e-mail regarding Superintendent Kline’s early departure was sent to all families on Friday, March 31, 2023. Kline gave his official resignation during the March OJUSD Board meeting. No reason was given.
“We will be opening up the Superintendent position for the application process. We will be doing the interview process for that hiring,” Shatswell reported.
The next OJUSD Board meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 8, 2023 at the OJUSD Tech Center. Public session begins at 6:30 p.m.
