Harpal Chandar will take the oath of office today as the new Ripon Unified school board member.

Her selection was made Tuesday via special session is for that of a provisional seat for Trustee Area 5, which was made available with the resignation of Christina Orlando, who served 12 years on the school board, from earlier this week.

Chandar, who is involved parent at Ripon High’s JROTC as well as Park View Elementary School, was picked over longtime Ripon resident and former San Joaquin County Office of Education board member Janet Dyk.

The latter served 12 years on the county school board – Dyk is also in the Manteca Hall of Fame – and was coordinator of various ag programs along with union matters during her years working for the Manteca Unified School District.

The decision between the two was a tough one for elected leaders.

“We had two outstanding candidates with each bringing something different to the board,” said Trustee Vince Hobbs, who remembered being a provisional appointment in 2019 (he filled a vacancy back then left by Annette Vande Pol’s resignation).

Like Chandar, who took part in Park View Elementary School’s various functions as well as bringing back the board for the JROTC program at RHS, Hobbs believed she was a better fit for the school board due to her recent involvements at the school sites.

“I think that has value,” he added.

The Trustee Area 5 seat will once again be up for grabs come the November election.

That part was not on Chandar’s radar at this time. She was especially thrilled to be considered one of the candidates for the vacancy.

She has a daughter at Fresno State – her husband is on military active duty and his current home station is Fresno – along with one at RHS and another at Park View, and is also part of the American Legion Auxiliary Post #190.

Chandar and Dyk, who is the owner of Magpie Antiques in downtown Ripon, were asked a series of questions from board members Caroline Hutto, Jason Winter, Kit Oase, and Hobbs.

Oase said that either way, “both would bring something key to a five-person board.”

The 7 o’clock school board meeting this evening in the Ripon City Hall Council Chamber, 259 N. Wilma Ave. will also include the following agenda items:

·         Trustees recognizing RHS students Elias Ramirez and Valeric Chun for their recent participation in the 2024 National Speech Debate Tournament.

·         They’ll look at approving the budget overview for parents along with 2023-24 annual update, and the 2024-25 Local Control Accountability Plan.

·         Director of Maintenance & Operations Andy Strickland sharing updates on facilities including the new CTE building at RHS.

For more information, log on to www.riponusd.net.