The Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools System is taking applications to replace outgoing member Mia Burroughs, who was elected Tuesday to the Orange County Board of Commissioners.

Board of Education Chair Jamezetta Bedford began Thursday’s meeting at Town Hall by congratulating Burroughs on her election to the Board of Commissioners.

She added that the Board of Education has accepted Burroughs’ resignation, effective Nov. 30. Burroughs’ opponent in the race, Gary Kahn, also congratulated her during public comments.

Now begins the process of finding her replacement.

According to a North Carolina statute and CHCCS policy, the remaining members of a board must appoint a new member when there is a vacancy caused by resignation, death or other reasons.

The appointed person serves until the next board election.

A timeline for the selection process has been proposed, and it begins with advertising the position – on the CHCCS website, in a press release, in PTA newsletters, and among school improvement teams and community groups such as El Centro.

An information session for applicants will be held at 4:30 p.m. at Lincoln Center on Nov. 17. The board seems to be anticipating a big response, enough to raise concerns that the brevity of the meetings may not allow members to learn as much as they’d like to know about applicants.

“It’s really hard to get to know someone, even on a superficial level, when you’re across the room from them, asking these stilted questions,” said Board Member Mike Kelley.

Bedford assured everyone that additional insight would be provided by “a set of eight, in-depth questions for them to respond to, that we will have in advance to read, too.”

The deadline for submitting applications, to be delivered to the superintendent’s office at Lincoln Center, is Nov. 19.

Interviews will be held at Lincoln Center at 6 p.m. on Nov. 24.

Board of Education Member Michelle Brownstein said she hopes there can be some flexibility in the timeline, in case a small handful of finalists happens to present a tough choice.

“You have to do it publicly,” said Brownstein, “where you’re saying we’re actually going to delay doing anything, because we need to have more information, just like you might have to do for a superintendent search, or whatever.”

According to the timeline, Burrough’s replacement will be selected at the 7 p.m. Board of Education Meeting on Dec. 4 at Lincoln Center, and sworn in on Dec. 18.

The state constitution requires the appointee to be an eligible voter and resident in the district. He or she may not be otherwise employed by the board.

According to an agenda abstract for Thursday’s meeting, the school system is looking for someone with either professional or volunteer experience in education, preferably in the district.

Community volunteer work, knowledge of local school issues and flexibility to attend meetings are also considered important.

Convicted felons are ineligible, unless their rights of citizenship are fully restored. Applicants must also be upfront about potential financial conflicts of interest.