The Seymour Community School Corp. board of education held a special meeting Tuesday evening to appoint someone to fill Jeff Joray’s vacancy.

Joray was serving as a school board member when he was elected as the Jackson Township trustee in November, and his term begins this month.

During the meeting at the Seymour Central Service Center, board President Art Juergens led the Jackson Township interim school board member application review.

There were originally five applications for the position, but one person withdrew, leaving four applicants to be discussed amongst the board members.

The four applicants being considered were Michael Broughton, Ryan Chandler, Brett Sciarra and Debbie Stout.

During the discussion, member Joe Tormoehlen said he knew three of the four personally and would have a hard time choosing one.

“I’ve known Brett, Debbie and Ryan for a long time, and I think they’re all good candidates,” he said.

Juergens said he knew several of the candidates, as well, and it was a tough thing to do, but they’d have to decide on one.

Board Vice President Ken Browning said he thought it was possibly a tribute to Superintendent Brandon Harpe, to the kids of Seymour Community Schools and to the community that they have applicants that show their care and concern.

“Care and concern not only for the schools but for the kids going to school, the educators and the entire community,” Browning said. “It’s just a really pleasant feeling to know there’s so much caring out there, and I don’t think we could go wrong with any of these applicants.”

Board member Holly Coates said three of the four applicants that she knew were from Seymour, live in Seymour and have worked in Seymour, and she felt that was very important.

The three Coates spoke of were Sciarra, who runs a Seymour business; Stout, a past educator for Seymour schools; and Chandler, who has been involved in coaching and sports in Seymour, which are all important factors, she said.

Juergens started off the nominations by nominating Chandler, followed by Coates, who nominated Sciarra.

There were no other nominations, so Juergens closed the nominations and asked if there was a second for Chandler. Max Klosterman seconded Chandler’s nomination, and Browning seconded Sciarra’s nomination.

Board members could vote for more than one nominee. They first voted on Chandler, which was unanimous in his favor 6-0. Then members voted on Sciarra. Coates was the only member who voted for him, so the vote was 1-5.

Chandler was voted in as the appointee, so he will complete the seven-person board and will finish out the two years left of Joray’s term.