School board members appointed Grant Loyd, owner of Alternative Design, to fill the Zone 1 position during a special meeting on Tuesday.
Loyd will fill the seat until the next school board election in May. The position was left open by Roger Holroyd, who announced in December his plans to move to Fort Smith as he had accepted a job as president of Arvest's Fort Smith Market.
Loyd was one of three candidates to apply for the position. The school board gave notice that it was accepting applicants through the local media, the school website and school social media pages, Superintendent Ken Ramey said. The district also sent out recruitment letters to 10 people who were recommended for the job.
Four people replied to the letters and met with Ramey to discuss the responsibilities of being a school board member. One decided to withdraw their application after meeting with Ramey and three applied -- Loyd, Oddvar Naustvik, a manager for Simmons Foods Inc., and Fred Patrick, EdD, a retired public educator.
Ramey told the school board that Naustvik is not qualified because he is not a registered voter and Patrick notified the district that he has a health issue that has not been resolved that could impact his ability to serve.
Loyd attended Siloam Springs Schools from kindergarten through 12th grade and studied business administration and management at the University of Arkansas, according to the resume he submitted to the school district. He has served as president of Alternative Design, a company founded by his parents, since January 2014. Before that he served in various roles in the company, including executive vice president, director of quality assurance and quality control manager.
"I feel that being a part of a community is more than just living, working and shopping in the city limits," Loyd wrote in his letter of interest. "My personal goal is to do more than those things, I want to serve the community and school district that helped me grow and develop throughout my formative (years) and still to this day."
If he wants to continue serving on the school board, Loyd will have to file to run in the May 21 school board election. The filing period is noon Feb. 13 through noon Feb. 20. Petitions must be filed at the County Clerk's Office on Lincoln Street in Siloam Springs and must be signed by 20 eligible voters in Zone 1.
General News on 02/10/2019