Cd'A school board chair Brooks resigns

COEUR d'ALENE - The chair of the Coeur d'Alene School District Board of Trustees submitted her resignation to the board Thursday during a special meeting at the Midtown Center.

Edie Brooks told the board she is stepping down because she recently married and is moving to Genesee, in Latah County.

Brooks said in a letter she read to the board, that she decided to resign after her future husband experienced a heart attack while they were hiking, his fourth episode in the past 18 months.

"We now know that we cannot take our health for granted and that every remaining day in our lives is very precious. We had hoped that we could have waited until the end of my term on the school board to get married," Brooks said.

Trustee Bill Hemenway told Brooks that the board's action should be more than just an acceptance of her resignation.

"We have to hold up what your standing here, and being here, and never relenting has meant to the community," Hemenway said.

Brooks served on the Coeur d'Alene school board from 1996 to 2004, in the Zone 4 seat. She was elected to the Zone 1 seat in 2006, and re-elected to that position in 2009.

Her resignation will become effective June 30.

The board accepted the resignation, and declared a trustee vacancy in Zone 1.

During a community discussion meeting held later Thursday, some patrons asked Brooks why she waited until just after Tuesday's election to announce her resignation.

Brooks said her husband's health was her main focus prior to deciding to step down.

Regardless of when she announced her resignation, if she resigned prior to the end of her term, June 30, 2013, her replacement would be by appointment.

Brooks signed her letter to the board with her new name, Edie McLachlan.

Interested and qualified patrons who reside in Zone 1 can submit a letter of interest and resume, naming three references, to the Board of Trustees at 311 N. 10th St., Coeur d'Alene, ID 83814 by June 3.

Interviews will be scheduled for June 6.

The newly appointed trustee will serve until the annual meeting in July 2013.

The appointed trustee will have to win a May 2013 election to remain in the position any longer.

A zone map is available at the District Administration Office, 311 N. 10th St., Coeur d'Alene and may be viewed by visiting the district website at www.cdaschools.org.