LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lakeport Unified School District Board of Trustees on Thursday night selected its newest member.

During its regular meeting, held at the Marge Alakszay Center on the district campus, the board selected Jennifer Williams-Richardson to fill a board vacancy created last month when Trustee Jeannie Markham moved to Oregon.

Williams-Richardson was one of two community members who submitted a letter of interest to Superintendent Jill Falconer. The second was Wendy Mondfrans.

However, Falconer told the board on Thursday night that since the agenda had been posted earlier in the week, Mondfrans had withdrawn from consideration.

Board Chair Dan Buffalo said that in filling a board vacancy, the board can choose either to go to a special election or to appoint.

Noting that three of the board members – including Buffalo himself, Markham and Phil Kirby – had been reelected in the fall with no opposition, Buffalo said he was comfortable with appointing a new member.

With only one candidate to interview, the board reduced the number of questions they had planned to ask from 10 to six and took turns asking Williams-Richardson about her background, interests, experience and goals.

Williams-Richardson and her family moved from Santa Rosa to Lakeport in May. She has two children who attend school in the district.

She was the parent teacher association president at her children’s previous school, has served on a school site council and also said she has a wealth of knowledge about safety. She is employed as a bookkeeper.

So far, COVID-19 has prevented her from doing the kind of volunteer work she wants to do in the district, and she said she’s looking forward to helping in a classroom as soon as possible.

Asked about her experience in public schools, Williams-Richardson said there are a lot of things to be gained in public schools, noting that being around diverse groups prepares students to be more compassionate and open to other cultures. She added that she is mixed race herself.

Buffalo asked her about what she believes are the district’s biggest challenges. Williams-Richardson said she thought the district is doing an excellent job in its response to COVID-19. “Nobody knew what to expect.”

In response to another question from Buffalo, Williams-Richardson said her goal for her first year on the board is to find out the goals of other board members and discover where she can fit in.

Kirby said being a board member takes a lot of dedication, and after reading Williams-Richardson’s letter and hearing her responses, he was confident that she would be a valued board member.

Kirby then moved to approve Williams-Richardson’s provisional appointment to the board, which Carly Alvord seconded.

Before the vote, Buffalo noted that one of the most important things the board does is hire and fire the superintendent, and they’re now in the middle of hiring the successor for Falconer, who retires this summer.

Kirby asked if Williams-Richardson could be part of the superintendent candidate interviews the board has scheduled for all day Friday at the district office. Falconer said yes, if she’s available, adding that she had understood Williams-Richardson had to work that day.

In the roll call vote, the board unanimously voted for Williams-Richardson’s appointment.

Falconer then administered the oath of office to Williams-Richardson before she took a socially distanced seat next to Kirby.

The board finished up business in open session shortly before 7:30 p.m. and adjourned into closed session. Board members reemerged at 7:45 p.m. to announce they had voted to hire the candidates for several jobs and then Buffalo adjourned the meeting.

On Friday morning, the board will convene in closed session at 8 a.m. to interview superintendent candidates, discuss salary and benefits for the new superintendent, as well as the contract with that individual.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.