Coin toss decides new Bethel School Board member after deadlock

The flip of a coin Wednesday, June 10, determined who would be the newest member of the Bethel School Board after the other board members deadlocked over the selection.

Tai Pruce-Zimmerman won the coin toss over Jennifer Monegan for the seat that had been held by Ashley Espinoza, who moved out of the district.

Other candidates interviewed by the board included Bethel parents Erin Basinger and Randy C. Van Leuven along with former board member Alan Laisure.

After interviewing all five candidates, the board ranked the candidates, narrowing the field to Monegan and Pruce-Zimmerman. 

Monegan is the director of membership, development and communications at the Nonprofit Association of Oregon. Pruce-Zimmerman is a stay-at-home dad and co-chair of the Active Bethel Community. He recently lost the Ward 6 Eugene City Council race to incumbent Greg Evans.

The board was split in its vote between the two candidates, with Debi Farr, Caleb Clark and Curt Nordling voting for Monegan, and Drae Charles, Robin Zygaitis and Brian Hynd voting for Pruce-Zimmerman.

Hynd praised Pruce-Zimmerman’s ability to forge collaboration.

“He is able to pull different community groups together, different people together, in order to support something,” Hynd said. “I think that is going to be especially important as we as a district are trying to celebrate what we are, what we have accomplished, and in the future to look for support from our community and to really get more supports for what we’re doing here.”

Farr said she ultimately voted for Monegan because she wanted another woman on the board, which now consists of two women and four men. Nordling viewed Monegan as more involved in school-level matters than Pruce-Zimmerman, whom he said was more focused on citywide issues.

Charles, who voted for Pruce-Zimmerman, expressed a desire for a board member who would run in the 2027 election and have good prospects at winning to reduce turnover on the board (the position is a one-year appointment).

None of the board members changed their vote in the second go-round.

And so the decision came down to a coin toss, which Robert’s Rules of Order, the bible of parliamentary procedure, lists as a legitimate way to break a tie.

Superintendent Kraig Sproles tossed the quarter, and after three attempts at throwing and a detailed discussion about which side of the quarter was heads and which was tails, board chair Clark declared that Pruce-Zimmerman had won.

“I had suggested a dance-off, and Tai said no,” Monegan joked, congratulating Pruce-Zimmerman with a smile.

Pruce-Zimmerman accepted the appointment and will be sworn in at Bethel School Board’s next meeting June 24.