VIDALIA — The next time the Concordia Parish School Board meets it will be missing a familiar face that has graced the board for more than a decade.

District 5A board member Martha J. Rabb resigned from her position on the school board last week, and at Thursday’s meeting the board voted to accept her resignation and appointed an interim board member.

Rabb has served on the school board for 14 years and taught at Ferriday Lower Elementary School for 12 years before serving on the school board.

In 2010, Rabb defeated Dorthea M. Davis with 67 percent of the vote.

Superintendent Loretta Blankenstein said Rabb resigned due to illness.

The board appointed parish public school veteran Warren Enterkin as interim member.

Since there is more than one year left on the term, a special election must take place in November.

Enterkin was appointed principal of Huntington School, a 246-student private school in Ferriday, in 2000.

Enterkin also served as principal of Vidalia Upper Elementary.

The retired educator was not in attendance at Thursday’s meeting, but his letter of interest stated that several members of his district approached him to serve the position and that he would be honored to serve on the board.

Board member Fred Butcher, who has worked with Enterkin in the past, spoke highly of the newest board member.

“He’s a middle of the road fellow,” Butcher said. “He’s very compassionate and had good rapport with all his staff and the students.”

While the board unanimously voted to accept Enterkin’s appointment, board member Raymond T. Riley said that he felt the process for accepting letters of interest from the public was not sufficiently advertised to the public.

Enterkin’s letter was the only letter received by the board.

“How would anyone else in district 5 find out about it?,” Riley said. “We need to have some process that’s not just word of mouth, because I can assure you there might be other people in district 5 that would be interested in filling that position.”

Riley suggested that placing an ad or letter in the local newspaper would be the best way to inform the public of any future open positions that need to be filled and voted on by the board.

The board approved having a special election for the unexpired term for district 5A in November.