USD 234 taps football coach to fill unexpired board seat

Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Jeff Sims

Local coach Jeff Sims has been tapped as the newest member of the USD 234 Board of Education.

During its regular meeting, the board approved the appointment of Sims, the head football coach at Fort Scott Community College, to fill the district 3-6 board seat left vacant due to the death of Becky Weddle on Oct. 14.

Sims, a five-year resident of Fort Scott, said he expressed interest in the open seat because he wants to contribute to the job board members have in governing local schools.

"I want to help and make sure we're doing the things that are necessary for our children and community," he said. "I've been in education for 18 years. I want to pitch in."

Sims said he has three children -- two of whom currently attend school in the district and one who will attend next year. He graduated from Baker University in Kansas and worked at two high schools and six universities before coming to Fort Scott in 2005.

"I've worked with some very good people in education," he said. "I think I bring (to the board) some passion for kids and I think I'll bring a fresh perspective and new ideas."

The board had been trying to fill the vacancy since early November when they requested all patrons interested in being a candidate to notify the district by Nov. 22. USD 234 Superintendent Rick Werling said Tuesday that Sims was the only applicant for the vacant board seat. The board then had several options at their disposal.

On Monday, they tabbed Sims to fill the "appointed" term that expires on June 30, 2011. Sims said he plans to spend the next six months observing and learning the duties of board members.

"The chair needed to be filled," he said. "I'll take the next six months to learn what's going on. It's not my role to come in right now with stern ideas ... Right now I need to help current board members with what they feel is prudent for the school district. I'm not trying to radically change everything."

The remaining two years of Weddle's unexpired term -- July 1, 2011-June 30, 2013 -- will be filled through the 2011 spring elections. Sims said he is interested in keeping the seat and plans to file for election next spring.

"I'm planning on running for election," he said. "I've wanted to be a member of the school board. I want to act and be a part of it."

Sims added that he feels the purpose of the school board is "to make sure our school district is educating our children the way our community sees fit."

Werling said Sims will officially sit in on his first meeting as a board member in January.

Also on Monday, the board hired area resident Tiffany Forester to replace Alan Drake, the district's longtime business manager and clerk who announced earlier this year that he plans to retire in early 2011.

There were 17 applicants for that position, and Forester was one of three finalists for the job, Werling said.

The board met during a series of closed sessions last month to discuss and interview possible candidates for Drake's job.

His last day with the district will be Feb. 1, 2011.

Forester is expected to start Jan. 1, 2011, allowing time for a transition and for Drake to train and work with her.

Forester is a 1997 graduate of Fort Scott High School and graduated from Pittsburg State University in 2001 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. Since August 2008, she was worked as the treasurer for Northeast USD 246 in Arma.

Before that, she worked in accounts payable at the Southeast Kansas Education Service Center at Greenbush from January 2002-July 2008.