The Weld RE-4 School District Board of Education appointed Windsor resident Raymond Ruth to fill a vacancy on the five-person board Monday night.
Ruth's appointment came at the end of a 3 1/2-hour special meeting in the district administration building, and returned the Windsor-Severance schools board to full strength following the resignation of Aaron Smith in November.
Ruth represents District A on the south and southwest geographic area of the school district boundary, straddling U.S. 34. Ruth will serve the remainder of Smith's term until November 2025.
He is the third appointee to the Weld RE-4 board since spring 2021. Current board vice president Lance Nicholas was appointed in April 2021 following the resignation of Brad Irion. Nichols then won election to the board in November 2021. Patrick Miller was appointed Jan. 6, 2022 in place of former board president Jennifer Lieber, who resigned in November 2021.
Smith, elected in November 2021 over incumbent Christopher Perkins, announced his resignation Nov. 14 after nearly a year on the board.
WINDSOR, CO - OCTOBER 13:Candidate Aaron Smith speaks during the League of Women Voters Greeley/Weld County candidate forum for the Weld RE-4 School District Board of Education in the auditorium at Windsor High School in Windsor Oct. 14, 2021. (Alex McIntyre/Staff Photographer)
Ruth, 44 and an executive for Danaher Corporation with two children who attend Windsor schools, was selected over four other finalists — including Perkins. The men, also Nick Mask, Joel Kiesey and David Sislowski and all five Windsor residents, were interviewed during a public meeting before the four other board members, Russ Smart, Regan Price, Nichols and Miller.
The finalists were each asked up to 10 questions, and they had a chance at the end of the interview to ask questions of the other four board members. Among the questions posed to the five finalists:
- What motivates you to serve on the board?
- If a parent contacts you on a book in a school library they see as inappropriate, what do you do?
- A community member calls you and said a school principal was dead wrong in disciplining their child, how do you proceed?
- How have you built consensus with colleagues from different backgrounds?
- Why is public education important?
- Using an example of the bond and mill levy override measures, the question was: If all board members voted to support an issue, and you disagreed, how would you support the work of the board?
Smith was the lone dissent in a 4-1 vote when the board decided in August to add the $271 million bond and $5 million mill levy override measures to ballots last fall. Both measures passed with 55% of the vote.
Ruth wanted to know about effective tools for receiving community feedback, and what Smart, Nichols, Price and Miller see as the highest priority for the new member.
"The kids come first," board president Smart said, echoing a theme heard throughout the evening. "Educate the kids and educate them to the best of their ability."
The special meeting began at 5 p.m. and didn't wrap until close to 8:30 p.m. — after about 30 minutes of discussion on the finalists.
The four board members almost immediately eliminated Perkins and Sislowski, the latter a retired attorney, former Windsor town board member and town of Windsor mayoral candidate.
Nichols introduced his views on Perkins trying again for a seat, saying if the 2021 election had been held at another time "you'd be sitting up here (with the board)." While complimentary of Perkins as a fellow board member, Nichols said "the voters have spoken and it's not a good fit at this time."
WINDSOR, CO - OCTOBER 13:Candidate Chris Perkins speaks during the League of Women Voters Greeley/Weld County candidate forum for the Weld RE-4 School District Board of Education in the auditorium at Windsor High School in Windsor Oct. 14, 2021. (Alex McIntyre/Staff Photographer)
Price agreed with Nichols on going in a different direction from Perkins. Nichols also said he read several emails over the previous days urging the board not to select Sislowski. Miller previously said during the discussion he saw 15 emails opposing Sislowski's application.
Ruth, Kiesey and Mask's names then soon became the focus of the board's discussion. The members, though, needed time to hone in on their choice. At one point, Smart asked the other members to look at three men a second time with the objective to find common ground.
"I think we can work with all three of them," Smart said as Price discussed Ruth, Keisey and Mask.
Price asked Ruth if work travel would prove to be a potential issue for him, keeping him from attending meetings. Ruth said no, that he's able to set his travel schedule at this point in his career and he can budget around board meetings.
David Sislowski
According to Ruth's application for the board seat, as an executive for Danaher he leads a global services organization for Beckman Coulter Diagnostics. Beckman Coulter Diagnostics is a health care diagnostics company and part of the Danaher Corporation family.
Nichols showed a preference for Ruth, who said he was going to apply for the open board seat a year ago when Miller was appointed but then changed his mind. Nichols then made a motion for Ruth to be the appointee with a second from Miller.
Ruth was appointed in a 4-0 vote.
"They're all cream and I think Raymond rose to the top in my mind," Nichols said.
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