State Board of Education announces College of Eastern Idaho trustees

The Idaho State Board of Education announced the five people who will serve as trustees for the newly created College of Eastern Idaho.

Those appointed include:

Zone 1: Stephanie Mickelsen, CFO of Mickelsen Farms Zone 2: Calvin Ozaki, manager of public affairs and strategic initiatives at INL Zone 3: Park Price, chairman of the board at the Bank of Idaho Zone 4: Craig Miller, assistant principal at Hillcrest Zone 5: Carrie Scheid, former executive director of the Idaho Falls Arts Council.

Each trustee will represent one of five zones approved by the State Board of Education. They will serve until November 2018 when the appointed term will expire, when voters will elect a new board. Each position will be up for contest. Each seat will be staggered with each trustee serving two or three year terms.

The trustees will come from five different parts of the county. The responsibilities of the trustees will be to make decisions about governance and staff, in addition to setting tuition rates.

A total of 55 people applied for the trustee positions.

Bonneville County voters approved turning the existing Eastern Idaho Technical College into a community college with a super-majority vote in early May.

The vote created a taxing district in Bonneville County to fund the college. Supports said taxpayers would see a 3 percent increase in property taxes. Supporters said the start-up cost for the community college would be about $800,000, according to an economic impact study completed in August 2016. Student tuition and fees, liquor taxes and $5 million set aside by the Legislature would pay for the rest.

During its board meeting Wednesday, the State Board of Education voted unanimously to approve the trustees. A motion to create a new associates of arts degree program was also unanimously approved by the board.