Berryhill no longer trustee

ECISD trustee Renda Berryhill has apparently vacated her position on the Ector County Independent School District board of trustees.

Berryhill sent a letter Friday to the voters of Ector County Precinct 2 stating: “when a school board member moves out of the precinct he or she was elected to, the office becomes vacant, therefore no resignation is required.”

Board president Carol Gregg said late Friday she took the letter to mean Berryhill is acknowledging she has vacated her office.

“That’s the way I read it,” she said.

Gregg said from what she understood the board could leave the seat vacant, call a special election or appoint someone to fill the open position.

When former ECISD trustee Bill Rutherford moved to San Antonio in November 2005, trustees couldn’t agree on a replacement and decided instead to wait until the May 2006 election.

Berryhill said Thursday that her family moved from its west side residence, 1213 W. Second St., to a leased east side property so her son could attend Permian in the fall.

At that time, Berryhill said she planned to finish out her term on the board — even though she’d moved out of the Odessa High district she represented.

Berryhill’s husband, Jamie, also indicated Berryhill would want to finish out her term — which would have ended in May 2008.

Gregg said she was surprised by Berryhill’s acknowledgment letter since Berryhill just notified Gregg of her move on Tuesday.

Once Berryhill told Gregg of her change in permanent residence, Gregg then mentioned it to ECISD attorney Mike Atkins.

In Berryhill’s letter, faxed to the Odessa American Friday afternoon, she stated: “Recently our family made a choice to relocate to fulfill our son’s dream to graduate from Permian High School as his parents did. I went through the legal and local process for the board. We have since had a change of officers and I went through that process again. We all thought that process was in progress.”

The letter seemingly indicates that Berryhill, who did not return repeated phone calls on Friday, thought telling Carol Gregg during Tuesday’s board meeting that she had moved would begin a “process” of alerting the district.

Phone calls to former board president Randy Rives were not returned Friday.

For Berryhill’s son to attend Permian and play football as Berryhill has stated has been the plan, the teen needs to be approved by the University Interscholastic League.

UIL athletic coordinator Peter Contreras said the eligibility decision would fall to a committee made up of superintendents from the area.

The letter from Renda Berryhill:

"To the Voters of Ector County Precinct 2:

When a school board member moves out of the precinct he or she was elected to, the office becomes vacant, therefore no resignation is required but I would like to make a statement.

Recently our family made a choice to relocate to fulfill our son's dream to graduate from Permian High School as his parents did. I went through the legal and local process for the Board. We have since had a change of officers and I went through that process again. We all thought that process was in progress.

Every change our family has made has been with careful consideration and our intentions are clear. Fulfilling our son's dream became a priority.

For any misinterpretations that may have caused undue unrest I am truly sorry. To the people of Precinct 2, I am grateful.

Thank you.

Renda Berryhill"

A separate page from Berryhill also said:

"ECISD attorney Mike Atkins said that when a trustee moves out of their single member district the Texas Education Code provides that their office is vacated without the need for a resignation.

Under state law, the board of trustees now has the option of calling a special election to fill the position, appointing a successor or leaving the position vacant until the May election."