Humble ISD voted to appoint a new board member rather than hold a special election in November at a June 20 special meeting.

The position became vacant after former trustee Heath Rushing’s resignation May 9. HISD is required by law to fill the position within 180 days of the Rushing’s resignation date. So a replacement will need to be in place by November 5.

The trustees determined they will take applications for Position 6 and hope to select a replacement soon. The board said it expects it will roll out the process by which it will make its selection by its next meeting on July 11. 

The decision to appoint follows the precedent set by the district, board member Robert Sitton said. Since 1952, the board has had a vacant position 19 times. In 14 of those cases, a new member was appointed. In the remaining five times the position was left vacant because the remaining term had less than one year remaining, he said.