A familiar name has been chosen to fill a vacancy on the Prairie Central Board of Education.
Tim McGreal was appointed by board members Thursday night to replace Brad Brown, who announced his resignation last month. McGreal had just completed a term on the board in April before the group reorganized and seated newly-elected members. McGreal’s run for office was unsuccessful in the April election.
Lara Davis of Strawn was another candidate considered for the post by the board. Both answered questions before members entered closed session to deliberate. These were the only two applicants for the vacancy. The two agreed the district’s greatest needs deal with finances and that employees and students are among the qualities of Prairie Central.
“It’s just a great place to be and I think we have a good education system,” McGreal said.
“We always need money,” Davis noted.
The pair gave a brief background about themselves and explained their strengths if chosen to serve on the school board.
“I’ve been on the board for four years and have a high school degree here at Prairie Central,” McGreal explained.
“I’m seeing a different point of view of how things work,” Davis said, referring to her job as a school resource officer at Blue Ridge in Farmer City. “I want to get more involved in my own school district.”
McGreal said he farms, has a business and pays property taxes in the district and has plenty of experience with a business-like structure. Davis explained she wants more of a say in her children’s education and that she would bring “uniqueness” to the position.
After about a half hour of closed-door discussions, board president Mark Slagel revealed McGreal got more votes.
“We took a straw poll,” he said.
Following the official vote, McGreal read the oath of office before he was officially seated.
