by Steven Felschundneff steven@claremont-courier.com

During a special meeting on Tuesday of the Claremont Unified School District’s Board of Education, former member Mary Caenepeel was appointed to fill the board seat left vacant when Beth Bingham resigned last month.

Ms. Caenepeel, who served on the board from 2005 until 2013, will complete the remaining months of Ms. Bingham’s term, which is set to expire at the end of November 2020.
“We received a total of 10 applications for the provisional appointment and all applicants met the requirements to serve as a Board member; therefore, all 10 applicants received an interview,” Superintendant Jim Elsasser stated in an email. 

Similar to a recent Claremont City Council meeting, Tuesday’s board meeting was broadcast telephonically, with members of the public participating using a popular video conferencing website.
Interviews and board deliberations were held in open session as required, according to Mr. Elsasser, and at the end of the interviews, the board decided to offer Mary Caenepeel the provisional appointment pending a TB test and FBI and Department of Justice clearance.

It is anticipated that Ms. Caenepeel will take the oath of office at the next regularly scheduled board meeting on Thursday, April 16.