Meg Erler with Jeff Ebel. (City-Times photo)

By Joel Murillo

Meg Erler filled the open seat on the Stevens Point School Board with a 5-3 vote, beating out Patricia Hetzel and Sam Levin for a vacant seat.

Erler fills a vacancy left when former Board Member Renae Sheibley resigned in May for undisclosed reasons.

Applicant Kevin Ruder, who is also the Stevens Point police chief, withdrew from the race.

Ruder said he was familiar with the school board’s and school system’s operations but removed his name from consideration because he felt Erler was a better candidate.

“The reason that people had me considered is because of my working with budgets, working in a collaborate form, working in city government, and that’s everything that Meg Erler represents,” he said.

Candidates were given 3 minutes to address the board prior to the vote. After debating whether the vote should be secret ballot, or based on a simply or super majority, the board agreed to a simple majority vote and made their votes openly.

Erler told the board she hadn’t run for School Board in the past due to family commitment, but she said she believed her past experiences on various boards gave her the experience needed. She is a former Village of Plover president and previously served on the Portage Co. Board.

“I believe the board’s responsibility is to appoint the person that they collectively believe is the most qualified,” Erler said. “I feel that I have a number of skill-sets and knowledge that could be very helpful for this board, and so that’s why I’m stepping up at this point.”

Meg Erler received votes from board members Jeff Presley, Angel Faxon, Trish Baker, Jeff Ebel and Christina Scott. Members Alex Kochanowski, Kim Shirek and Lisa Totten voted for Hetzel.

The Stevens Point School Board oversees a $100 million budget and oversees the position of the superintendent. Board members earn about $3,600 a year for their duties.