Douglas County school trustee interviews Tuesday

The Douglas County School Board will interview candidates for the vacant Trustee seat Tuesday the Douglas High School Media Center at 4 p.m.

“We have three candidates who we will be interviewing at the School Board meeting on Tuesday,” said Douglas County School Board President Susan Jansen Thursday. “Each candidate will be asked six questions in front of the public, one from each trustee. We (the six board members) will then vote as a board if we want to add one of the candidates as our new trustee to replace Tony.”

The vacancy became available in December when Tony Magnotta resigned after three years of service as a trustee.

During the Dec. 12 School Board meeting Magnotta’s resignation was approved and the board posted the vacancy for potential candidates as a legal notice in The Record-Courier for two weeks under state law from Dec. 16-30, 2023.

The notice required that individuals residing within District 1, who are interested in the position should submit a letter to the office of the superintendent by Jan. 1.

The three candidates are residents Ricky D. Lewis, Yvonne Wagstaff, and Stephen Theriault.

District 1 serves the area east of Highway 395 from Topsy Lane, west of Hot Springs Mountain, Fremont Street and north of Johnson Lane.

Interested individuals were urged to provide their reasons for wanting to serve on the Douglas County School Board, their education, occupation, training and other skills, and their perspective of the major challenges facing public education, specifically within the Douglas County School District.

Lewis’ letter of interest indicated he has lived in the Johnson Lane area for 22 years, is a retired master electrician. He has three adult children and two of his grandchildren are Douglas High School graduates.

“Those who know me consider me to be a very reliable and responsible individual,” said Lewis in the letter. “I am willing to dedicate the time and effort required to serve my community as a school board trustee.”

Wagstaff’s letter of interest states that she’s lived in the area for nearly 10 years. She has six children, three who are Douglas High School graduates and three still attending the high school and Carson Valley Middle School. She has worked as a playground aid and in the special education department at Piñon Hills Elementary School for six years.

“I know there are many issues that have been addressed here within Douglas County,” wrote Wagstaff. “Some have been resolved and many have become heated topics,” said Wagstaff in the letter. “Every student and teacher deserve a school board who can work together to help make facilities a good working and learning environment, ensuring that our student needs always come first.”

Wagstaff ran for the trustee seat in 2020 and lost against Magnotta.

“I would love the opportunity to serve our amazing students, teachers and community to help support our school district grow and improve,” she wrote.

Theriault has lived in the district for 28 years according to his interest letter for the trustee seat. He has two adult children who graduated from Douglas High School and Western Nevada College and currently has four grandsons attending Douglas County schools.

The letter lists Theriault’s qualifications including that he is a retired college professor with emeritus distinction, former department chairman and faculty senate chairman serving on a range of committees designed to benefit students, the institution and the community, and he has a doctorate degree in education with an emphasis on organization leadership.

“In a nutshell, I love education,” said Theriault’s letter. “I fully believe that long after many of us are gone to our final resting place, the lessons we share with the children in our schools today live on in ways that do considerable good for many. Douglas County is a great place to raise a family and live and I believe I can help to make it even better.”

Should the board choose a new trustee during Tuesday’s meeting the appointed new board member will begin serving immediately following the oath of office.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the board will discuss, nominate and take possible action on the positions of the president, vice president and clerk. Those seats are currently held by Jansen, Doug Englekirk and David Burns.