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Nelsonville School Board Member Resigns

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The Nelsonville-York Board of Education is looking for a new member after accepting the resignation of Duane Andrews Wednesday night.

In a letter read by Board President Micah Covert, Andrews said that because of his employment with the Nelsonville Public Library, he decided to give up his position to avoid any "issues" for the Board.

Because the Board appoints a trustee to the Athens County Public Library Board, a school board member apparently can not be an employee of the library. Andrews is listed as a Facilities Manager on the library's website.

The decision stems from a decision by the Ohio Attorney General in an unrelated case.

"Because the Nelsonville Public Library is incorporated by the Athens County Public Library, you can't be on the Board (of education) and work at the library," said Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn.

This made Andrews' position on the Board a conflict of interest, Board officials said.

"(Andrews) has always abstained from (appointing library board members) before, but that doesn't satisfy the Attorney General ruling," Superintendent Mick McClelland said.

Andrews had served on the Board for two years. He did not attend the meeting on Wednesday.

"This vacancy needs to be filled after 10 days but before 30 days so we will have to hold a special board meeting on this," Covert said.

The board agreed to hold the meeting on April 21 at 6 p.m.

"We want to let the public know that we will be accepting letters of interest at the Board of Education office," Covert said.

Andrews could not be reached for comment.

Also at the meeting, the board approved the appointment of Deborah Sheskey to fill a vacancy on the library board for the Athens County Public Libraries.

The board approved the resignation of Lindy Douglas, who served as director of Curriculum & Instruction and has also served assistant principal at the elementary school.

Douglas was chosen last week to fill the spot being vacated by Jeff Cullum at the end of the year as superintendent of the Alexander School District.

Retirement requests were approved by the board by Terry Robb, Dean of Students at the elementary school, and Daniel Murray, teacher and coordinator for the Talented and Gifted program at the district.