(Posted July 10, 2019)
By Josephine Birdsell, Staff Writer
At a special meeting on July 9, the Madison-Plains school board appointed a new member to the board.
Michael English will fill the seat vacated by Cory Coburn, who resigned effective June 16. English will take the oath of office at the next regularly scheduled board meeting on July 23 and serve through Dec. 31, 2019.
The remaining two years of the term, which expires at the end of 2021, will be up for election in November of this year. English said he plans to run. Petitions for candidacy must be submitted to the Madison County Board of Elections by Aug. 7.
At the July 9 meeting, the school board interviewed three candidates before appointing English. The other two candidates were Seth Downing and Rebecca Garrett.
“We had dedicated people who were passionate about the district and supporting … the children that are in it. That came out tonight, through each interview we did,” said Toula Xenikis, board vice president.
“Michael demonstrated great passion and knowledge and a community mindset that will benefit the district,” she later stated in a press release.
English is the director of acute care nursing and clinical education at Madison Health and a father of two.
He first became involved with Madison-Plains Local Schools when his children enrolled 14 years ago. He now has a rising eighth-grader and a rising sophomore in the district.
“For a small, rural school, their education is definitely quality,” English said.
English has served as a member of the Madison-Plains Scholastic Booster Club for the past two years, where he has worked to prepare the district’s graduating seniors for college. He also has volunteered with Sufficient Grace, a nonprofit working to combat child hunger, to deliver food to students once weekly for the past three years.
Now, as a board member, English aims to focus on improving school facilities.
Facilities should “match the level of education already being given in the district,” he said.
“[I have a] strong desire to do what I can for the community,” English said, “to focus on the children in the Madison-Plains school district.”
