ASHLAND – Ashland City Schools board of education members are considering three finalists for an open seat on the board. All three are parents of children in the district who also live and work in the community.
Finalists Colleen Cook, Zack Truax and Brandon Wells each will be interviewed this week or next. The board expects to select a candidate in time to have the new board member be sworn in Oct. 29.
Board president James Wolfe said Monday the board received letters of interest from six candidates. The other three candidates were Adam Bracken, Rebecca Karper and Joline Scott-Roller.
Wolfe said the board is likely to choose from among Cook, Truax and Wells, but is not closing off the possibility of accepting more applications or interviewing additional finalists.
Cook is director of operations at Vinyl Marketing and and has three children, the oldest of which is school-age and attends Reagan Elementary.
Her community involvement includes a position on the leadership board at Park Street Brethren Church and a past position on the Ashland Convention and Visitors Bureau advisory board.
She has a masters degree in art administration and a bachelor’s degree in music in education. Her past experience includes director of marketing and development at Renaissance Performing Arts Association in Mansfield and music teacher at Wapakoneta City Schools.
Truax is a owner of Truax Printing, along with his two brothers. He has two children who attend Ashland City Schools as well as a stepdaughter who graduated from the career center in 2015.
His community involvement has included volunteering as a pacesetter committee member for United Way of Ashland County.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and has past experience as a juvenile corrections officer at Mohican Juvenile Correction Facility.
Wells is a broadcaster at Ashland University and iHeartRadio. He has three children in the Ashland City School district.
Wells and his wife recently moved back to Ashland after three years in the Copley-Fairlawn City School District.
Wells has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and is pursuing a master’s in practical theology at Ashland Theological Seminary. His past experience includes work as an associate producer at ESPN and several coaching positions, including a role as head baseball coach at The Ohio State University.
The chosen board member will fill the open seat vacated by Will Gravitt, who is moving out of the district to live in Oberlin, where he recently began a job in the development office.
According to state law, the board’s appointee to replace Gravitt will serve through Jan. 1, 2020. If the appointee wishes to continue in the office, they must run in the November 2019 election.
