In May, Round Rock ISD Place 6 trustee Paul Tisch resigned his post of the past four years to move to College Station for a job with the Texas A&M University System. This sparked a series of board decisions, culminating in the appointment of Stuart Selvaggi, his subsequent resignation, the addition of background checks to the trustee appointment process, and at press time, a Place 6 vacancy.
Filling a vacancy
Following Tisch’s resignation, the board voted to appoint rather than elect Tisch’s replacement, who is to hold the post until November 2018. As part of this process, trustees held two informational forums to get to know interested candidates and answer any questions they might have.
Thirty-one candidates submitted applications for the open position, and trustees whittled down the pool to seven for a public interview.
On Aug. 14 trustees voted to appoint Stuart Selvaggi, a Westwood High School graduate and parent of children in the district. A week after Selvaggi’s appointment, concerned citizens began to question his background.
Citizens circulated a letter that reflected the result of their background check efforts, alleging Selvaggi had filed for bankruptcy several times and had numerous foreclosures and evictions tied to his name.
On Aug. 28, Selvaggi resigned.
“It was a tough decision to come to, but ultimately it is what is best for the students, staff and community,” he said in a statement.
The board met the next day to determine next steps and came to the consensus that some kind of district background check was necessary for future trustee candidates going through the appointment process.
Board counsel Bill Bingham said there are few state guidelines for what a candidate must do in order to be eligible for appointment.
“I think you probably need to tell prospective appointees that these are the things you will ask—for example, a background check,” Bingham said at an Aug. 29 meeting. “There is no real prescriptive on how you select people to interview.”
At a Sept. 11 specially called meeting on the matter, the board altered the application the governor uses for special appointees to fit what it is looking for in board candidates. The questions the board is proposing to use relate to previous legal proceedings, any former bankruptcies, active voting history and delinquent taxes.
The board will also add a section that requests permission to perform a background check on candidates who advance in the process.
Trustees did not take this decision lightly, as once a background check is performed, its results will be in public record, open for anyone to request.
Changes to interview process
Board members also discussed altering the way they interview candidates. At Selvaggi’s interview, each candidate was brought before the board and asked the same questions with no opportunities for follow-up questions. Once finished, candidates could watch other candidates’ interviews.
Trustee Chad Chadwell asked for a forum-style approach that would allow candidates to work off each other’s answers and show where fundamental differences exist.
The other trustees wanted a one-on-one interview for initial rounds, with the opportunity to bring back final candidates for a group round.
At press time there was no new trustee appointed to Place 6. The board elected to invite two candidates from the pool of seven interview in August to undergo the application process again but with a background check.
The two candidates, John Grey II and Ryan Baker, were the only other individuals with names brought forward for a vote at the Aug. 14 meeting. Neither garnered enough votes to be appointed.
