BELOIT — Five people have applied for the School District of Beloit school board seat vacated by Juan Romero.

The applicants include one former board member, another who ran unsuccessfully for a seat in April and another who headed a lengthy ad-hoc committee to make recommendations on improving the district’s finances.

The district had scheduled a special meeting for Monday night to interview each candidate and approve a replacement, but the meeting was canceled because several of the board members wouldn’t be able to attend. The district did not say when the meeting would be rescheduled.

“It is a strong group of candidates, and I’m looking forward to the interviews,” Beloit School Board President Tia Johnson said. “I haven’t met a couple of them.”

Romero was one of two newcomers to win a seat on the Beloit school board in April and was the leading vote-getter, getting 19.5% of the vote. He resigned in early September because he is moving back west to be closer to family.

Two of the people Romero defeated in April applied to fill his seat. Gregg Schneider, who served on the board from 2021 to 2025, was unsuccessful in winning another term in April. He finished last in the voting. Bill Johnson, who finished fourth in April, missed out on a seat by 119 votes.

Carol Fox, a former school principal and administrator who has headed an ad hoc committee to help deal with the district’s financial problems for the past two years, is seeking a seat on the board.

The other two would be newcomers to the district’s inner workings.

Travia Foy works for Rock County Human Services. According to her LinkedIn profile, she’s worked for Rock County since 2019. Before that, she worked for the City of Beloit and the Kerry Group. Foy has a master’s degree in human resources management from Concordina University-St. Paul.

George Dalbo is an assistant professor of education and youth studies at Beloit College. He is a former middle school and high school social studies teacher in both Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Whoever is chosen will serve until April, when a new school board election will be held.

Source: Beloit Daily News