A familiar face will be back on the Argyle ISD Board of Trustees, despite the board seeming adamant about not appointing someone to an elected position.
Sam Slaton will rejoin the Argyle ISD Board of Trustees after the board unanimously voted Monday to appoint him to fill the vacant Place 7 seat.
Board members believed having a full, seven-member board would be beneficial in the district’s future plans. They said Slaton was the best fit for the job because of his experience. He had served on the board for nine years, as recently as last year, but didn’t file for reelection in February.
“Sam has great experience serving on the board,” said trustee Leona McDade. “It would be a real easy transition and nice to have the group whole again with seven people on the board – we have a lot of important stuff coming up.”
Slaton will fill the Place 7 seat, which was left vacant following the resignation of Josh Westrom in June.
The district had a few options. It could host a special election in November, allowing voters to choose the new member, appoint someone to fill the role or just leave the seat vacant until it comes up in a regular election.
Place 7’s term will expire in May 2028.
“In order to avoid the cost of a special election in November, we chose to look at either filling the vacancy or leaving it open for the remainder of this year and opening the election in May with our regular election,” said board president Leigh Ann Artho. “This opportunity has given us a chance to meet many local community members that showed interest and ability. We’ve had a lot of healthy discussion, a lot of deliberation and we had many people who had strong qualities, good interest and great interviews.”
The board did not appoint anyone at its meeting on June 15, and most of the discussion Monday made it seem like they weren’t going to appoint anyone, at all.
According to Artho, individuals that expressed interest in filling the vacancy were from all different parts of the district and had different connections to the district.
“From the individuals we had an opportunity to speak with, I think the district will be in great hands going forward if any of these individuals decide to run in future elections,” said trustee Matt Slaton. “There were a lot of great conversations, it was a great opportunity to get to know people a little bit better, so I think Argyle is in a good spot. The caveat to that is – I’m hesitant to appoint an individual to an elected position.”
Other trustees shared the sentiment.
“I agree about not appointing someone to an elected position,” said McDade. “Sometimes you have to go through a process to get to an ending, and you start to see things from a different perspective and the pros and cons.”
But maybe board members just weren’t interested in appointing a completely new individual, rather appointing an experienced trustee after lots of deliberation.
“We spent a lot of time deliberating this for sure. With the amount of hours we were in closed session – talking about these things, reviewing applications and talking to people, it wasn’t a [quick decision], we’ve spent some good time on this,” said trustee Justin Ford. “Personally, I have no issue with Sam. I think he did a great job.”
Trustee Rich McDowell said getting to know community members throughout the interview process made the board thankful for its community and felt that Argyle ISD was on a good path forward. He also agreed that bringing Sam Slaton back was the best option.
“The continuity Sam will bring back,” he said. “Along with the fact that he already has the mandatory training requirements done, it’s just one less thing he has to worry about, so it’ll be a seamless transition back into the role.”
Sam Slaton will serve until voters elect a new board member in May 2027, who would serve the rest of the term, which expires in 2028.
