Marlow board schedules John Graham to fill vacant Seat #2 at Oct. 5 meeting after executive session

The Marlow Public Schools board held a special meeting Sept. 23, 2026, to consider applicants for the vacant School Board Seat #2 and voted to appoint John Graham to the position effective at the Oct. 5, 2026 board meeting.

The board proposed and convened an executive session under Oklahoma law—citing 25 O.S. § 307(B)(1) and 70 O.S. § 5-118—to interview and discuss appointment options. A motion to convene the executive session at 6:01 p.m. was made by Cody Bannister and seconded by Larry Johnson; the motion carried with recorded votes of Cody Bannister (Yea), Chad Choate (Yea), Karmen Farmer (Yea) and Larry Johnson (Yea). The board announced its return to open session at 7:14 p.m. and stated that "No action taken in Executive Session." (minutes notation).

After returning to open session, the board took up the possible appointment to Seat #2. The board made a motion "to appoint John Graham to Marlow School Board Seat #2 at the October 5th, 2026 board meeting." The motion, made by Bannister and seconded by Johnson, carried with the same unanimous roll-call votes recorded (Bannister, Choate, Farmer, Johnson all "Yea"). Superintendent and minute-taker Corey Holland is listed in the minutes as present for the meeting and for the record of attendees that included applicants Brandon Burchfield and Jarrod Elroy.

No additional details about the selection criteria, any terms beyond the Oct. 5 effective date, or whether the appointee was sworn in at the meeting were included in the minutes. The minutes record the board's unanimous votes on motions but do not indicate individual discussion points from the executive session (the minutes state no action was taken in executive session).