School board policy decried

OGDEN — State Board of Education member Greg Haws has written every legislator, decrying the new nominating procedure for board members that resulted this year in business representatives having the majority vote on selections.

"I call upon you to change this procedure and return the voice back to the people," the board member from Hooper, Weber County, wrote this past week.

The law enacted at the 2004 legislative session created a centralized nominating committee made up of six business representatives and six education representatives. Committee members are appointed by the governor. The committee then makes recommendations to the governor to appoint candidates to run for the state school board.

"It's a broad-based diverse group to name these candidates," said Sen. Tom Hatch, R-Panguitch, who sponsored the bill.

Three committee members representing education were absent the day the committee settled on its candidate recommendations.

The committee discarded board incumbent Mike Anderson of Lindon, despite his having been elected by voters in his district. He previously was on the Alpine School Foundation Board for 10 years. Mossi White of Provo, who has been the president of the National School Board Association, also didn't make the business leaders' cut.

Anderson, who has a business background through his 25-year construction business, plans a write-in campaign.

"I feel education has been damaged by what they did," Anderson said. "The voice of the people did not get heard in this process."

The former nominating method had the governor's appointing a nominating committee in each of the state's district areas, if a board seat was open. The committee would recommend up to five names to the governor, who would then select two to run.

Members of the new nominating committee are mainly from the Wasatch Front. Committee members were from Highland, Provo, Alpine, West Jordan, Riverton, Park City, Clearfield and Logan. There were also two committee members from Salt Lake City and two from Sandy.

"How can someone from a different county and different area understand how people in that district feel, and the problems that exist in that district?" said state School Board member Joyce Richards of Ogden. "This smacks of totalitarianism."

The goal of SB185 was to provide more diversity on the state board, which supporters of the bill felt has been dominated by education-oriented members.