Kentucky School Advocate
August 2024
By Brenna R. Kelly
Staff writer
Montgomery County board seat back on the ballot
A board seat in Montgomery County will be on the ballot for the fourth time in three years – including twice this year.
The seat is currently vacant after board member Lisa Walker resigned July 23. Walker won the seat in May after the unexpired seat was put on the May primary ballot. Walker won the seat by a vote of 338 to 198 against incumbent Bill Morgan.
It was the third time in three years that Morgan had lost election for the seat. In November 2022, Josh Oney defeated Morgan, who was the incumbent, by 21 votes. After that election, Oney’s brother was hired by the district, forcing Oney to resign. Morgan was then appointed back to the seat. In November 2023, Oney ran against Morgan again for the unexpired term. Oney won that election by 67 votes. Oney was again unable to serve because his brother took another job with the district and the board reappointed Morgan to the seat a second time.
The seat was on the ballot during May’s primary after Montgomery County Clerk Chris Cockrell placed the seat on the primary ballot at the direction of the Kentucky State Board of Elections.
After Walker won that election, Morgan filed a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office claiming that Walker should not be able to serve because her husband has interest in a company doing business with the district, according to Walker’s resignation letter.
Under state law, school board members cannot be “directly or indirectly interested in the sale to the board of books, stationery, or any other property, materials, supplies, equipment, or services for which school funds are expended.”
In the letter, Walker said she does not work for the company and has no ownership interest in it. However, Walker said her attorney advised her that challenging the complaint would involve a protracted legal fight.
“In my opinion, the verbiage of this statute is vague, overly broad and it causes multiple issues, of which, can keep very qualified school board candidates and members like me from serving, even though we are elected by the voters,” Walker wrote.
Walker, a former teacher whose five children attended Montgomery County Schools, said she was resigning as soon as possible to give others a chance to file for the seat. As of late July, no one had filed for the seat, Cockrell said. The deadline was Aug. 13.