Dr. Eric Owens was unanimously appointed to fill a vacancy on the Oxford School Board at a meeting on Sept. 18.

He will be representing Region 1 on the board, and will serve until the next school board election, which takes place in November of 2019.

Owens is filling a vacancy that was created when David Severino resigned from the board in August. After the board voted on the appointment, Owens was immediately sworn into office by District Judge Scott Massey, and then he took a seat at the table with the other board members.

Owens is an associate professor at West Chester University, where he has worked since 2011. He is a licensed professional counselor who has worked as a counselor in private practice, as well as in the collegiate and secondary school settings. He served as a school counselor and also has taught many teachers and school administrators about crisis intervention.

He and his family live in Oxford Borough. Owens said that the fact that he has two young children in the district was a motivating factor for him to seek a position on the school board.

While the school board members were happy to welcome Owens, a highly educated professional, to their ranks, school board president Joseph Tighe lamented the fact that there was only one person who applied to fill the vacancy, especially since being appointed to fill a vacancy is a much easier process than having to campaign for a seat during an election.

“It is distressing that we had one candidate,” Tighe said. “I think that's sad.”

Tighe quickly moved on to thank Owens for wanting to serve the school district as a board member.

“I want to commend Dr. Owens for stepping forward,” Tighe said.

In other business at the meeting, the school board approved a new memorandum of agreement with the Oxford Educational Foundation for the recruitment, training, placement, and supervision of volunteers in the schools for the 2018-2019 school year. The Oxford Educational Foundation currently works with more than 100 volunteers in the Oxford community.

The Oxford School Board will hold meetings next month on Tuesday, Oct. 9 and Tuesday, Oct. 16. Both meetings take place at 7 p.m. at the Administration Building.