Board election takes two ballots

McCOOK, Nebraska -- McCook School Board member Diane Lyons retained her position as secretary, but it took two ballots to get there.

School Board members elected the president, vice president and secretary at their regular meeting Monday night. Current president Tom Bredvick was unanimously retained as president, after being nominated by Lyons. Due to the lack of other nominations, the vote was not by secret ballot and board members stated their vote.

Lyons nominated Larry Shields for vice president, a position he currently holds. Again, there were no other nominations and the board unanimously voted him in.

There were two nominated for the office of secretary. Teresa Thomas nominated Lyons, with Shields nominating Sandy Krysl,

As there were more than two nominations, the vote was done by secret ballot and resulted in a tie.

The six-membered board was asked to vote again and Lyons was declared the winner.

President Tom Bredvick announced the results of both ballots. He declined to reveal what the vote count was in the tie-breaker ballot.

The board unanimously retained MPS Business Manager Rick Haney as treasurer.

For committee appointments, Bredvick asked board members to notify him if they would like to change or remain on the committees they were appointed to last year. Appointing members to committees will be tabled until next month.

These committees include programs and curriculum, finance and negotiations, policies, and facilities.

Later in the meeting, the board approved the McCook Education Association as the official bargaining group for the 2013-2014 school year.

The MEA is the local teachers union for certified teaching staff. Joan Bass is the president of the group.