School board members sworn in

Heitz and Dobbins take seats; Forrest undecided
While incumbent Sandra Dobbins and newcomer Eric Heitz were sworn in to Windsor’s school board at a meeting held on Tuesday, there was some ambiguity to the evening’s proceedings, as incumbent Billy Forrest remained unsure whether or not he would take a seat on the board he was reelected to in November’s election.
Welcoming the newly elected board members was one of a few transitions that occurred at the meeting. The evening marked the final meeting for outgoing board member Katy Dillwood, and also a shift in responsibility for George Valenzuela and Oscar Chavez, who were elected to the positions of president and vice president, respectively. Student trustee Priscilla Ledezma, a junior at Windsor High School, was also sworn in at the meeting on Tuesday evening.
Before Dobbins and Heitz were sworn in, board members and Superintendent Steve Jorgensen spoke in recognition of Dillwood’s service throughout her years on the school board. “She’s done every subcommittee you could name and has been involved in every discussion in facilities and board policy,” Dobbins said.
“I just wanted to say thank you for being a champion for our students and for our district and really for our entire teachers and administration,” Chavez said. “I really appreciated your perspective, and you really have a way of bringing us all together.”
Dillwood acknowledged that coming to the end of her time on the school board was bittersweet. “I have other things that I’d like to try and other challenges that are coming my way,” she said.
The board members also extended thanks to Billy Forrest, though the evening did not necessarily mark the end of his tenure on Windsor’s school board. Following the election on Nov. 4, Forrest remains in a state of limbo as he works to unknot legal technicalities that dictate whether or not can take his seat.
Earlier in the year, Forrest stepped down from the school board at the time his wife entered the district as a teacher, to avoid a potential conflict of interest as her employment contract came under consideration. However, he had already declared his candidacy for reelection to the school board, and it proved too late to remove his name from appearing on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Forrest earned 17.6 percent of votes and secured one of three available seats on the school board. Following his reelection, there remained confusion as to whether or not his wife’s relatively recent entry into the district still constituted a conflict of interest.
Forrest said he embarked upon a long, “windy road” of inquiry with various contacts, before consulting with the Fair Political Practices Commission. Their legal representative, he said, cleared the way for him to take the seat on the school board if he so desired, at least until the point in time when his wife’s contract again comes under school board consideration.
“I found out that, actually, I can sit, I can take my seat,” Forrest explained at the meeting. “I’m not going to be sworn in tonight, because I want to find out all the legal parameters.”
If Forrest decides not to take the seat on the school board, Jorgensen said the board would declare the seat vacant and appoint a new board member. After taking applications for the position, the board would interview candidates during an open-session meeting, likely in January or February.