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Prud'homme to fill vacancy on Ashland school board Sabrina Prud'homme Wednesday Jul 19, 2017 at 5:21 PM Jul 19, 2017 at 5:21 PM By Joe Zavala for the Mail Tribune The Ashland School Board voted Tuesday to appoint Southern Oregon University Board of Trustees secretary Sabrina Prud’homme to replace John Williams, who resigned June 12. Prud’homme’s term will begin Aug. 1, and she’ll be up for re-election in May 2019. Prud’homme beat out two other applicants for the post. Tuesday’s unanimous vote, which began at 1 p.m. at the district office, lasted about five minutes. Board Director Jim Westrick opened the meeting with a brief summary of the process. He was joined in the front of the conference room by fellow board members Deneice Covert Zeve, Eva Skuratowicz and Eric Strong. Prud’homme didn’t attend the meeting because she was working. “I think (Monday) when we sat in the interview process it was very apparent that they couldn’t have made a bad choice,” Prud’homme said, “and so I think all of us probably walked away thinking, ‘Well, if they don’t chose me then we know the district will be in good hands because these are all good applicants.’ ” Prud’homme, whose daughter recently graduated from Ashland High School and whose son is entering kindergarten, worked as the manager of communications for a food manufacturer from 2008 to 2012 before moving to Ashland in 2013. Before that, she was the assistant director/special projects at University of Nevada Las Vegas for six years. Prud’homme, who received a bachelor’s degree in English literature from California State University and a master’s in communication studies from UNLV, has also worked as the community relations manager in Los Angeles for Weingart Center Association, the largest homeless service agency west of the Mississippi. Asked why she sought the position, Prud’homme said, “I have a vested interest. ... I live here in Ashland, I’m a taxpaying citizen, but more importantly I have a child who just graduated from the high school and she had some wonderful teachers and some tremendous experiences there. And I think when you’re a parent of any child, you also see some of the places where you say, ‘Oh, this place or that place in the school could be strengthened.’ " — Joe Zavala is a reporter for the Ashland Daily Tidings. Reach him at 541-821-0829 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @Joe_Zavala99.