A Virginia City resident who is the booster club president at Virginia City High School started his term on the Storey County School Board on Thursday as the replacement for Michelle McGarraugh, who moved out of state.
The board is back to five members. Deny Dotson said he threw in his name as a replacement for McGarraugh because he figured it was his time to contribute.
It is his first time serving on a school board. At last week's school board meeting, the four other school board trustees chose Dotson over another candidate, and he began serving immediately afterward. The other candidate for the board, also a Virginia City resident, was Desna Young.
"I've been in the community there for almost seven years and raising kids," he said. "I'm real active and I figured 'Why not?'"
He and his family are building a home between Gold Hill and Virginia City and have lived in the Virginia City Highlands. They have one son in middle school. Their oldest son graduated from high school and recently joined the U.S. Marine Corps.
Dotson has been president of the booster club for about two years, a group which raises money for athletics. He is an assistant coach for the junior varsity and varsity basketball teams in Virginia City.
"I wouldn't serve if I wasn't looking forward to it," he said. "It's a chance to be part of the decision-making process for not just my kids, but for other kids."
He will serve through the end of year, when McGarraugh's term would expire. He is not sure if he would then want to run for a full term, but he says for the remainder of this one, he plans to do all he can to support extracurricular activities for students.
"I want to work to continue to keep activities available for our kids," he said. "That's my big thing both academically and extracurricularly."
-- Contact reporter Maggie O'Neill at moneill@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.