Bloomingdale BOE Seat Will Soon Be Open

The Bloomingdale Board of Education is expecting to soon have an opening as Board Member Rich Dellaripa was elected to serve on the Bloomingdale Council Tuesday.

Dellaripa was one year in to his second term on the Bloomingdale Board of Education. He was first appointed to the board seat and was elected to a new three-year term after running in last year's school board election.

But Dellaripa, who was also appointed as the board of education's liaison to the Bloomingdale Council, decided to serve his borough in a different capacity when he ran for a seat on the municipal council this year. According to unofficial results,

"We need to put Bloomingdale on a firm financial basis and we need to do what we can to stablize taxes, make it affordable for people to live here again and make it just a great little town to live in," Dellaripa said.

According to Bloomingdale Public Schools Business Administrator George Hagl, Dellaripa is not able to serve on both bodies and would need to resign from his school board seat by Jan. 3 if he plans to serve on the council.

"The Bloomingdale Board of Education will then advertise the open position on the board and accept applications within a 65-day period," Hagl said. "The board then would interview the candidates within 65 days of Mr. Dellaripa's resignation."

After the interviews, Hagl said the board is able to select a candidate or reject all candidates. If the candidates are rejected, the board would be able to re-advertise the open seat as long as the 65-day period has not expired.

"If the 65-day period expired, the Executive County Superintendent shall make an appointment. In no case could a person be appointed beyond the next election," Hagl said.

Board member appointments are not uncommon with the Bloomingdale school board. Last year, Board Member Cathy Gurbisz was appointed to fill an unexpired term.