IFN Staff
The Iredell-Statesville Schools Board of Education is planning to fill the vacant District 2 seat at its next regular meeting.
The I-SS Board’s acting chair, however, does not believe that the Board it is required to appoint Matthew Youngblood, the Statesville Christian school teacher who was tapped for the seat by members of the Iredell County Republican Party Executive Committee.
In a letter to the Iredell GOP, I-SS Board Acting Chair Doug Knight asserted that the Executive Committee did not follow a statutory requirement for selecting its nominee to fill the seat vacated by District 2 representative Kevin Angell in January. Angell, who also served as Board chair, resigned following an altercation with I-SS Board member Mike Kubiniec following an earlier meeting.
The GOP Executive Committee considered five applicants for the vacancy, and its members voted to select Youngblood as their nominee.
The I-SS Board deadlocked 3-3 on a motion to appoint Youngblood to fill the seat during its March meeting. Board member Rhonda Hoke, who represents District 4, raised concerns during that meeting about whether the GOP Executive Committee had followed the proper procedure when it selected Youngblood.
In his letter to the Iredell GOP, Knight wrote that the Executive Committee did not restrict voting to committee members “who represent precincts all or part of which were within the territory of the vacating board member.” As a result, the acting chair said, the I-SS Board is not required to follow the GOP’s selection.
“The Board will pursue a process to fill the District 2 vacancy in accordance with applicable law,” Knight wrote. “The individual selected may be Mr. Youngblood or any other qualified member of District 2.”
The I-SS Board is scheduled to meet on Monday, April 13, at the Career Academy & Technical School in Troutman.
Related
Letter
