There’s a new member on the Goshen School Board as of this week, but the selection process was mired in confusion and technicalities.
At a special meeting on Saturday, Goshen School Board members voted 3-2 for Alexa Ponce to join the board and replace Allan Kauffman who resigned last month.
But on Monday, the board reversed course and swore in Keith Goodman to fill Kauffman’s seat following a series of convoluted technicalities. The situation to replace Kauffman comes after Kauffman along with three current board members were charged with felony campaign finance charges for not disclosing the funding source for a campaign mailer during the 2022 campaign.
Even though Ponce was voted in by a 3-2 margin, one board member — Maria Sanchez Schirch — was on Zoom and technical difficulties prevented her from officially casting her vote, according to board president Roger Nafziger. Per Indiana law, new board members need majority approval, meaning any candidate would need four yes votes.
After Saturday night's vote, the board's attorney made the board aware of the statute and the fact that Kauffman's replacement would have to be sworn in by March 25th at midnight. Upon learning that information and knowing that Sanchez Schirch is out of the country and wouldn’t be able to attend another meeting, Nafziger said he reached out to other members individually to try and settle on a candidate everyone could agree on.
That candidate was Keith Goodman, who the board approved unanimously.
“It’s really quite simple,” Nafziger said. “The two board members that did not vote for her Saturday were adamant they could not support her. Then it’s a member of practically. If we’re going to seat somebody we have to go a different direction.”
Goodman previously served a stint on the school board from 2017-2020. Goodman also ran for an at-large spot on the board in 2022 but we beaten out by Nafziger and Mario Garber.
An email to Sanchez Schirch was not returned on Tuesday. Attempts to reach Alex Ponce were also unsuccessful. Ponce apparently worked for the Boys & Girls Club of Elkhart County, though a representative from the organization on contacted Tuesday said Ponce no longer worked there.
The confusion over the dual votes comes as Kauffman, who just resigned, and three sitting board members — Nafziger, Garber and Jose Elizalde — face felony charges over campaign finance violations. Another woman who ran for the board but lost, Andrea Johnson, has also been charged. The charges stem from a simple campaign mailer which endorsed Jose Elizalde, Mario Garber, Roger Nafziger and Andrea Johnson in the general election and denigrated an opposing slate of candidates who were backed by the far right group Purple for Parents.
The candidates all listed then-Goshen school board member and former Goshen Mayor Allan Kauffman as the source of the money to pay for the mailer. However, election officials and the prosecutors believe the money was raised by a group of around 30 individuals who gave the money to Kauffman, who then donated the funds to the individual campaigns.
