HOLDEN – Elections on Tuesday filled the two open seats on a smaller, eight-member SAD 63 board of directors, so members of the board’s reapportionment committee, which created the smaller board, disbanded on Wednesday.

“We’re done,” Ellen Campbell, reapportionment committee chairwoman, said after the group’s last meeting.

Finding people to fill the larger, 13-member SAD 63 board has been difficult in recent years and is one reason for the smaller board. It, however, was not the original reason for creation of the reapportionment committee, Campbell said.

The committee formed after a Clifton resident wrote a letter to Education Commissioner Susan Gendron requesting the allocation of the board be looked into. By law, the SAD 63 board had to create a committee that would determine if Clifton had proportional representation, according to Campbell.

The ad hoc committee decided on May 6 to reduce the 13-member board to eight. Gendron’s office approved the change on May 19.

Previously, Holden had seven representatives, Eddington had five, and Clifton had one. Holden now has four representatives on the board, and Eddington has three.

Clifton remains with one representative, but with the smaller board, the community has a stronger voice.

In Tuesday’s elections, Holden had four seats on the ballot, which didn’t reflect the reapportionment.

With the reapportionment, however, only one seat had to be filled. Incumbent Sylvia Ellis received the most votes on Tuesday in Holden, thus retaining her seat.

Eddington had two seats on the ballot before the reapportionment but needed to fill only one because board member Beth Murchie voluntarily stepped down on Monday. Incumbent Karen Clark, running unopposed, retained her seat in Tuesday’s local elections.

Clifton reelected its member, Carolyn Miller, during the March annual town meeting.

As a final act, the reapportionment committee made suggestions for the remaining terms of the eight board members. There is a question as to who should determine these terms, either the school board or the committee. As a result, the committee members made their recommendation before disbanding to avoid having to hold another meeting.

The committee recommended that Clark and Ellis have terms that end in 2007; Scott Baillargeon of Eddington, Richard Perry and Don Varnum, both of Holden, have terms that end in 2006; and Claude Berthiaume of Eddington and Dion Seymour of Holden have terms that end in 2005.