Tuesday afternoon, members of the Baldwin County Board of Education gathered at the financial table with system administrators to hash out final details of the system’s Fiscal Year 2009 budget. This type of discussion among board members and administrators is typical for school systems and other governing bodies all over the state during the summer months, as one fiscal year comes to a close and leaders look at projections for the coming year. And while the more detailed contents of this year’s budget may be material for a forthcoming editorial, there was nothing unusual with regards to the purpose of Wednesday’s discussion. What was striking, however, was the silence heard from District 3. Although local residents living within the board of education’s other voting districts had representation, the third district had no say — because a replacement has yet to be named to fill the empty school board seat left vacant following Judy Ivey’s resignation in June.

The board of education came to consensus last month on reviewing a list of registered voters to fill the vacant seat, but no replacement has been named. The residents of District 3 deserve a representative, particularly in such serious matters as the new budget’s final approval. The 2008-2009 school year recently began, and we are all aware of the issues our local schools are facing — from raising test scores, the possibility of establishing a new magnet school, the reorganization of administrators, and a financial crunch to name a few — shouldn’t all sectors of Baldwin County have a say?

Without a representative, District 3 has no voice in any of the decisions that come before the board. Residents in the southwestern portion of Baldwin County deserve a voice, just like every other region of the county.

During the July discussion on the matter, it was reported that at least one board member noted District 3 needed a say in the budget conversation, and that plans to find an interim board representative for the district needed to be as expedient as possible.

And while board members can legally let the seat remain empty and allow the governor to appoint a replacement after 45 days have elapsed from the time the seat was vacated, do we really want leadership from Atlanta making decisions about who fills a seat on our local school board?

The board made the decision last month to pick a replacement based on the list of registered District 3 voters, but there has been no public follow-through on the process. The District 3 seat has been empty since June, and a lot of decisions have been made regarding our local school system since that time. Those living in parts of downtown and in the southwestern portion of the county have been left in the dark when it comes to representation. While a new representative will come on board in January following November’s election, is it fair for the residents of the third district to wait another four or five months before the seat is filled? Fortunately for District 3, the budget adoption was tabled Tuesday for further consideration.

In the early years leading up to the formation of our country, the phrase ‘No taxation without representation’ was coined in Boston as our nation reached the brink of the American Revolution. In essence, British colonists living abroad in what later took shape as the United States of America felt they no longer had representation in the British Parliament. Although they were still subject to paying taxes, they had no voice and no representation. While the circumstances are vastly different today, the overriding premise is pretty much the same. The residents of southwestern Baldwin County deserve to have their say in how their tax dollars are spent — just as much as residents of every other district. The residents of District 3 deserve a representative, and the board of education must act expediently to ensure that it happens.