Dixon Public Schools District 170 Board repeatedly splits vote over leadership role; tables decision

DIXON – The Dixon Public Schools District 170 Board was unable to elect its next vice president after a series of tie votes during an organizational meeting Tuesday.

At the routine meeting, the four board members reelected in April – Linda Wegner, Brandon Rogers, Linda Leblanc-Parks and Jon Wadsworth – took the oath of office, and the board was tasked with selecting new officers.

The three positions – president, vice president and secretary – are for a two-year term and come with specific responsibilities on top of those given to a board member.

With board member Kathleen Schaefer absent, six board members were left to vote.

Wegner, who has served as president for the past six years, was unanimously reelected president.

But when deciding who would be vice president, the board repeatedly landed on a 3-3 vote count split between Rogers and Wadsworth.

The duties of the vice president are to fill the role of the president if the office is vacant, the president is absent from a meeting, or if they’re unable to perform the duties of president, according to board policy 2:110.

The president leads all board meetings and sets the tone and climate of the board meeting to create an environment that allows for decision-making. Other duties include calling special meetings, signing official documents of the district and serving as the public body head for things relevant to the Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act, according to board policy.

The board’s choices for the role were either incumbent Rogers, nominated by LeBlanc-Parks, or Wadsworth, who nominated himself.

Rogers has been on the board for six years. He was elected secretary in 2021 and then vice president in 2023. Wadsworth has been on the board for four years.

“It’s good to have some kind of change,” Wadsworth said. “I think that’s healthy. We don’t have term limits, so you can get into a situation where we get stuck in our ways, and I think we want to avoid that.”

He said his motivation for running mostly stemmed from wanting to change things up since the board members remained the same after the April election.

“I think it’s good to change up the officers,” board member David Fritts said. “I’m disappointed that all three officers voted” to retain themselves.

Rogers, Wegner and LeBlanc-Parks voted for Rogers; Wadsworth, Fritts and board member Melissa Gates voted for Wadsworth.

Wadsworth said he feels like he would do well in the role because he’s attentive, asks questions and has a different perspective, which would add some diversity to the officers.

“I appreciate all the different personalities we have. I think that’s a strength of our board,” Wegner said.

Rogers said he thinks he should retain the role because he’s been consistent in being present at meetings and maintaining a good working relationship with Wegner in the past six years that he’s been a board member.

At meetings, “we’re productive and on topic ... and don’t waste time going on unnecessary tangents,” Rogers said.

In the end, the board tabled the vote and will revisit it at the next regular meeting at 6 p.m. May 21 at the district building, 1335 Franklin Grove Road in Dixon. Meetings also can be viewed online on the district’s YouTube channel.